A Golden Dawn
by UnedeofMirkwood
Summary: Unede Arinyaelen, a warrior, a hero of Mirkwood, and light of her people, has never been one for love. For a thousand years she has sacrificed for the citizens of Mirkwood on the battle field, and now she sits on the council of the King. Met with matters of the heart, and political strife, Unede must navigate her way through uncharted territory, and learn who she is meant to be.
1. An Uncommon Beginning

_Authors Note: Thank you for taking the time to read my story! As you journey ahead, please keep in mind, this piece is purposefully written and published out of order. Things that may seem fluffy, confusing, or seem to be out of place, come around eventually, and by chapter 38/39 everything will make sense and weave together in a cohesive and exciting thread. Save for a few edits, this piece is mostly complete, and additional cut chapters, or our good old Legomance chapters can be found published under one shots on my profile. I think they are nice adjuncts to the story that don't have a place in the main part, but flesh out the characters and story better and many more will come. If there is enough demand I may eventually post an 'in-order' version of this fic, but only after this one is complete. A Golden Dawn will be updated twice a month, so please follow/favorite to get the updates :)_

_2063 TA_

Unede stood at the counter of her aunt's kitchen. Before her were all of the fruits of the season, oranges, nectarines, black, blue and raspberry's. She was washing the fruit carefully in a bowl, and arraigning the pieces on a platter for the table. Her back was turned to the door, and Legolas stood there quietly, holding his jar of honey. He watched her green dress sway from her hips as she hummed, and admired the sun's rays glinting off her gold curls, filling the room with light. For a moment he thought his chest might burst, and felt his words catch in his lips.

Then as though she felt the pressure in the room rise Unede's hands paused, and he sensed the smile he could not see on her lips. Legolas stepped forward and placed a hand on her back, and sat the sticky honey jar down on the counter next to her. And then he watched her smile spread across her face, and crease around her eyes.

"Now how in all that is good did you manage to get that, if mine eyes do not deceive me that honey is from the Fields of Celebrant." She admired the hazy red liquid and dipped her finger into the jar. Legolas watched her eyes light up as she tasted the liquid. " I have not had this in a hundred years at least".

"Neither have we, and my envoy traded my favorite stallion for that jar, so I hope you enjoy it" he said a smile teasing at his face.

"You would not do such a foolish thing" she quipped.

His face grew more serious and he whispered "I would do anything to warm your heart, it has been a fortnight since I last saw you smile". A quiet tension grew in the air and only a moment later was interrupted by Aunt Indis who's spirit instantly broke the tension, and caused the other two elves to startle.

" Oh by the stars, it is good to see you both here, It has been ages since we last heard the court gossip, and dinner has been made special for the new moon, and oh is the honey from the Fields of Celebrant! My Gods I haven't seen this in more than a century. How ever did it come to be in my kitchen!" Aunt Indis continued to talk of the honey, and her bread, as the two young elves moved aside and shared a jovial gaze. "when I was young we had trade open with Lothlorien, you see, and we had honey, and wine, and limbas bread. It was a delight to see the ladies there in the flowing robes, living in the trees, of course we did back then too! And oh the Talan's like nothing we have here-" But her retelling ceased when her eldest son Ingwe spoke from the dining room.

"You never told us you have been the Golden Wood- why haven't we heard this story! Is it the honey? Is that how we could loose your tongue mother? I should say you need more!"

" Oh goodness, I've told this a hundred times" Aunt Indis rolled her eyes " My son always has his head in the tree's" she laughed.

"Speaking of someone having their head in the tree's Unede's hardly been seen in weeks, perhaps you can shed some light on her where a bouts" Legolas said with a sly smile.

Aunt Indis rolled her eyes "Oh she and Miriel have been at it with their paints again, trying to capture the autumn leaves"

"I did not know she was an artist! Unede, when can I see them, it would be a delight"

"I am of little talent" She said flatly "And you can see them, when you are the King, and you can order me to show them to you."

"Well I happen to know my father is a fan of art"

"Oh, come on you two its dinner time". She walked out of the kitchen carrying bread, butter and honey.

Legolas and Unede stood in silence and watched her go. And then together realized that his arm still resting on her back and hers on his shoulder. Unede blushed, untangled herself and moved into towards the dining room.

"Don't forget the fruit" she said with a laugh on her way out.

The wine flowed freely at the dinner party, Unede's family retold the old stories of her cousins youth. They laughed about all the times Ingwe fell from his horse, and recalled how Unede's first arrow flew right past her father's head. They recollected the time Uncle Olwe drunkenly proposed to Aunt Indis in front of the whole kingdom, and they both fell to the ground laughing with joy.

"Oh and the first time Legolas came to dinner, I could hardly speak" Cousin Miriel laughed between glasses of wine "Unede said she was bringing a friend, and I hid in the kitchen for an hour wondering why the prince was in our home. And then I dropped the whole stew on my way to the table"! The family laughed and poured more wine and broke more bread, and Unede passed her honeyed fruit around the table.

"Forgive me, I thought I had made it quiet clear that everyone should act normally" Unede said with a smile.

"You know it was awkward for me too!" Legolas chortled " I was told it was a picnic with some of the guard, and here I come in dirty clothes, with nothing but a bottle of bad wine!"

"Oh he was, oh my goodness!" Aunt Indis snorted "I made him take off his boots outside and he even had Arm Guards on!"

"In my defense, Uncle Olwe and Cousin Ingwe are in the guard! How was I to know everyone else would be here too!" Unede said sipping her wine and blushing.

"Well who did you think would do the cooking, and clean up all the stew on the floor!" Aunt Indis said patting her nieces back as the table erupted in laughter.

The party moved to the hearth and Unede and Legolas sat on the floor with her cousins. Uncle Olwe passed out instruments, a tambourine, a guitar, a leather drum, a flute, and after a short debate about who would sing, they settled on Legolas.

"Oh he does have a lovely voice, he should sing the Nimrodel"

'Oh no it is to sad" Unede said " Sing of Eryn Galen, when it was great. Sing the song of the trees, or of the love of Oropher and his wife".

Legolas grinned " I shall sing the song of the tree's and then you shall sing of my Grandfather!"

And so they did, their voices filled the room, accompanied by the sweet sounds of music, and they sang until the fire grew dim and was fed and grew dim again. Then, when the fire was in embers, and the wine had been drunk Unede stood up unsteadily and said in a quiet voice " I do think I must go, there is a council called at dawn on the morrow and I must find rest before then".

Legolas rose to his feet and smiled "Let me walk you home" The room for a moment fell silent, it seemed that there was not even a breath taken as the family awaited Unede's answer. Her Aunt nodded in the dim light and her Uncle raise their cup to them.

"Travel safe" Miriel whispered "Though I hardly have to say it to the likes of you two". Unede and Legolas smiled, and a flush rose to Unede's cheeks as she took his offered arm, and was led to the door. They said their goodbye's and went out to greet the new moon and the cool night air.

Quiet hung in the room behind after the Prince had left, the embers crackled, and no one dared breath. Minutes passed until finally Ingwe whispered into the dim light.

"There isn't a council meeting in the morning".


	2. An Uncommon Meeting

_Authors Note: Thank you for taking the time to read my story! As you journey ahead, please keep in mind, this piece is purposefully written and published out of order. Things that may seem fluffy, confusing, or seem to be out of place, come around eventually, and by chapter 38/39 everything will make sense and weave together in a cohesive and exciting thread. Save for a few edits, this piece is mostly complete, and additional cut chapters, or our good old Legomance chapters can be found published under one shots on my profile. I think they are nice adjuncts to the story that don't have a place in the main part, but flesh out the characters and story better and many more will come. If there is enough demand I may eventually post an 'in-order' version of this fic, but only after this one is complete. A Golden Dawn will be updated twice a month, so please follow/favorite to get the updates :) _

The Year 103 TA

She lifted her sword and crouched, waiting for the attack. The world seemed to grow silent around her, and her eyes focused on the elf who stood on the opposite side of the ring. His dark hair hung in braids, and shadowed his face, blackening his eyes, he seemed to be a part of the twilight. She breathed slowly and deeply, feeling the weight of her sword and dagger, and decided to wait for him to attack.

They circled each other slowly, each trying to anticipate the actions of the other. But, Unede was a patient swordsman. 'There was no need to rush the fight' Rumil had always said 'let it come to you and take the opening when you see it' she remembered his voice in her first lessons 'never prolong it, never waste your energy, fell them and be done'. His words sat in the back of her mind, and she found the steady spirit of the Mallorn in her.

Finally, he struck moving forward in a flash, his sword raised and his sides undefended as he carried himself in a great bound towards her. She watched him come, his center of balance off, his sword hand raised reducing his grip. She parried his blade and it fell from his hand, then she tripped him as he finished lunging towards her. She regained her stance, sheathed her sword and dagger, and offered her hand to help him from the ground.

The dark-haired elf rose and looked at her "This is the beginner's course" he said halfheartedly.

"And I am a terrible archer" She said with a smile. The ellon brushed dirt from his clothes and looked to their captain.

"She is" The captain laughed "And, we all need to start somewhere. Troops, today we shall learn balance" he continued on, and Unede fell back into the group of untrained soldiers. A few seasoned warriors gave demonstrations, showing how to crouch, and move your weight from one foot to the other, how to evaluate the balance of your opponent, and overcome them unarmed. The lesson went on as they watched, and a quiet voice spoke from behind her.

"Let's make a deal, if you're as terrible of an archer as you say, and a better swordsman than you let on, then we can benefit one another". The whisper came in her ear. She looked back and saw a blond ellon, young in the eyes, with a mischievous smile.

"You're skilled with the bow?" she breathed.

"I can hit the target." He winked.

"We have deal" she nodded.

Thank you for taking the time to read A Golden Dawn. I hope you have enjoyed the beginnings of my tale, for we have a long way to go.


	3. A Question for a King

_Authors Note: Thank you for taking the time to read my story! As you journey ahead, please keep in mind, this piece is purposefully written and published out of order. Things that may seem fluffy, confusing, or seem to be out of place, come around eventually, and by chapter 38/39 everything will make sense and weave together in a cohesive and exciting thread. Save for a few edits, this piece is mostly complete, and additional cut chapters, or our good old Legomance chapters can be found published under one shots on my profile. I think they are nice adjuncts to the story that don't have a place in the main part, but flesh out the characters and story better and many more will come. If there is enough demand I may eventually post an 'in-order' version of this fic, but only after this one is complete. A Golden Dawn will be updated twice a month, so please follow/favorite to get the updates :) _

Year 103 TA

The King of the Woodland Realm sat down heavily in his chair. His silver hair draped the cushions, and though he was lithe and strong, his aura seemed to fill the room and make those around him stand straighter. The King sipped his honeyed wine and watched the fire crackle on the hearth. The minutes passed quietly, and he bathed in the quiet moments alone, allowing the heat of the fire to rejuvenate him.

But his respite did not last long, the door to his study swung open, without so much as a knock to prepare him. He did not need to look away from the flames to know whom it was that entered the room. A small smile came to his lips, and pride swelled in his chest, for his son had completed his first day of training to guard his people.

Finally, the King turned to look at his son who stood before him, dusty, unkempt, out of breath and beaming. His face alight and flush with exertion.

"I am terribly behind in hand to hand combat" the young elf laughed. A servant offered him a cup of wine and he took it graciously, then looked pointedly at his father.

"Why do you look at me as though this is my fault?" The King said with a grin "You love the bow I let you train with it, who else do I have to put pheasant on my table but my only son. It is a skill we needed".

Legolas laughed and placed his glass of wine down. He began undoing his bracers, and the maids scurried to bring him a clean robe as he unbuttoned his jerkin, and pulled off his dirty boots.

"You do realize this is my study and not your closet" the King said half amused.

"I do Father, but lo, I am terribly excited to tell you all that I have learned. Did you know Captain Celduin can flip a man over his back with his eyes closed!" The king nodded as his son fell to the couch beside him "I can't even do that when I know to expect the attack!"

And so the two carried on into the evening, Legolas told his father of his fittings for bracers, and swords, about his first lessons, and about how he was the only one to strike the target with an arrow. And the king recalled when Captain Celduin could hardly ride a horse, let alone flip an opponent blind. They laughed into the evening, and dinner came, and they ate pheasant and vegetables, until the night grew dark and the stars were alight.

"My son, I am proud of you, you have a long way to come, but you are training with the best. With patience and hard work, I am sure you will move through ranks."

"Of course I will father, I have a plan!" The prince said cunningly.

"If your plan is to force Captain Celduin to give you private training, I'll not hear of it, you'll work with the reset of the Under Guard, they need to see that their Prince is one of them. They need you by their side if you are to lead one day." The Kings voice was firm, and unwavering.

"Father you underestimate me. No, there is one in my class who is very skilled with the sword and in hand to hand combat. She and I have come to an agreement- a trade of skills if you will. Then we can help the others learn too. It will be a good match, and beneficial for all of the Under Guard."

The King studied his son for a moment, and hid his smile, and his approval of this plan his son had hatched. No doubt it was Legolas's idea. He had taught the bow master to sing, in order to learn to shoot a pheasant in the eye, and he had learned to sing by teaching the singing master to draw. He had taught his son well in the art of trade. For one so young, he was quite capable in subtle and mutually beneficial diplomacy.

"And tell me what is the name of this elleth" The King said as he refilled his son's glass with the sweetened wine.

Legolas sat back on to the couch and took a long draw from the cup "Her _kilmessë_ is Unede, I believe you know her Uncle Olwe, he is in the home guard".

The King's lips pursed for a second and then relaxed, but it did not go unnoticed by his son. "You do know her then, is she as skilled as she lets on"? Legolas said egerly.

"More I would say" Thranduil said quietly. "You don't study for a hundred years with the Galadhrim and not become a talented swordsman".

"Well" his son said "I have heard our elves are worth 10 of any warrior from Rivendell, so she can not be that far ahead if she learned in Lothlorien. How many Galadhrim would it take to defeat one our trained Guardsman?"

The King looked seriously at his son, his eyes darkened, and brow became heavy. His voice was stern and stanch and when at last he spoke his hand bent the metal of the cup in his hand "One".


	4. A Place to Settle In

_Authors Note: Thank you for taking the time to read my story! As you journey ahead, please keep in mind, this piece is purposefully written and published out of order. Things that may seem fluffy, confusing, or seem to be out of place, come around eventually, and by chapter 38/39 everything will make sense and weave together in a cohesive and exciting thread. Save for a few edits, this piece is mostly complete, and additional cut chapters, or our good old Legomance chapters can be found published under one shots on my profile. I think they are nice adjuncts to the story that don't have a place in the main part, but flesh out the characters and story better and many more will come. If there is enough demand I may eventually post an 'in-order' version of this fic, but only after this one is complete. A Golden Dawn will be updated twice a month, so please follow/favorite to get the updates :) _

A Place Settle In

Fall of 2063 Two weeks before the Dinner With Uncle Owle and Aunt Indis

Unede stood outside of the heavy doors of the Kings study. Her hands and neck were slick with nervous sweat, and her jaw was tight with worry. She slouched as she wiped her hands hurriedly on her skirts, then patted her hair making sure her braids were intact. After what seemed like an eternity, the heavy wooden doors open and she was waved into the room.

"Captain Unede of Eryn Galen, daughter of Gelmir Former Councilor to the King, may they rest peacefully, and Laurebrian of the house of Finarfin."

Unede gathered herself and entered the chambers. It was a wide room, with soaring walls of pale stone. Banners of their house hung from the eaves, and a fire roared on the hearth behind the King, casting his face in shadow, and ringing him in an burning red light. Unede had seen the King many times before, but this time his heavy robes and glowing aura made her stomach uneasy.

The King looked over his shoulder at her, his great crown casting dark branchlike shadows on the walls. Unede shrank, feeling as though she was in the clutches of the great forest again, and felt a fear pulse through her body.

The King moved to face her and extended his arm towards his chairs, the heavy velvets blocked the fire for a moment, allowing her to look on the face of Thranduil and see that his gaze gave little away.

The King sat, and Unede followed suit, she smoothed her skirts and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"You asked to meet with me," The King said.

"I did" she whispered.

"Speak freely, what is the burden you carry?"

Unede was quiet for a moment, taking time to gather her courage.

"I cant be a captain any more. I am ready to come to court, to settle down, to grow a garden, to be with my family again." She said, and paused for a moment before continueing. "My spirit is tired. I saw the evil of Dol Guldur, I led the army to drive it out, but I am not strong enough to face any terror in those woods again."

The two sat in silence for a long time. They watched the flames on the hearth dance, and the great banners sway in the eaves. They listened to the movement in the hallway, as elves busied themselves and went about their day oblivious that the King and his Great Warrior held important council.

"You saw Sauron," The King said solemnly.

"No one will believe me," She breathed "That was no necromancer. I have heard the stories, I have read the scrolls. I know that evil. I have known it since I was young, and it is not yet defeated."

The King nodded and heaved a heavy sigh. He had seen her grow quiet since her coming at dawn a fort night before, and when she had returned home her eyes had darkened, as if some evil had taken their light.

"You should take rest, spend time with your family, grow your garden, break your bread." The King agreed. Yet he knew her presence in his Kingdom was invaluable, though he could not admit it. "I will need you to serve in other ways now, you know this."

Unede nodded "Of course your highness, what ever you require of me, it will be an honor to serve," yet her stomach soured at the thought of battle.

"Take your father's place on the my council. Guide our armies from afar. We go into an era of peace, but I do not trust it, we must be vigilant." Unede nodded at the Kings words "And I need someone who has the ear of the those that call themselves The Wise. Our relations with Rivendell and Lothlorien have been strained, we must rebuild them, we must become part of their council."

Unede's jaw clinched "They abandoned us," She said tightly "They should have attacked from the south, a hundred years ago. We have suffered at their hand."

"We have," Thranduil agreed "Perhaps you can show them their wrong doing. Perhaps our Houses can make amends…I am a King, I do not often ask for aide. Your relations with your family are strained, I know this, but your people here are more important."

"I know," she said looking away from the kings heavy gaze.

"You have their ear-"

"Not that of the wizards." Unede interrupted "The one who calls himself Saruman, he is unshakable, he has always asserted the Nazgul took refuge in Dol Guldur, he is unwavering."

"You think he holds sway over Your Grandmother and your Uncle". The King asked leaning forward to encourage her to speak.

"I do not know. They are wise, but their council with the wizards, I do not understand why they value it so. Why they would not take head of your warnings."

The King was quiet for a moment, he knew how wild Oropher had been, how he had thrown his people into the Battle of Dagorlad ahead of the orders of Gil-Galad. They had nearly been defeated, and the elves of the woodland realm took heavy losses. He saw that same fire in Unede, yet it was somehow tempered by the blood of Finarfin. Though the words escaped him, he admired her brilliance on the battle field, and her allegiance to his house had proven valuable time and time again. He drank deeply of his honeyed wine, now able to be traded for again since the woods were safer to travel through. It warmed his heart that this elleth had chosen his Kingdom to fight for, his people to love.

"Elrond and Galadriel have always held tension with me, and sought counsel elsewhere, we will help them see the this error," The King said delicately. "All will be mended in time."

"Perhaps," Unede replied "I shall try."

They were quiet again, Unede pondered her King's request. It would take a long time to mend her relation's with her Mother's side of the family. Likely made much more complicated with Uncle Olwe's most recent request. She pursed her and signed.

"What is on your mind?" the King said intrigued.

"Family gossip, Uncle Olwe always pressing," She muttered "Nothing to trouble yourself with."

"Perhaps not, yet I take great pleasure in gossip, and have a tight lip should you need it."

"He want's me to dance the may pole, and look for spring courtships! I've hardly been home for two weeks, and they already are playing match maker!" She said exasperated.

"Well you are the eldest."

"Yes, but Cousin Miriel is begging to be presented at court, and can't be until I am, and now that I am home, she has spoken of it endlessly."

"Perhaps you can appease her, have you anyone who speaks to your heart?" Thranduil laughed "I know of many Ellon's who have spoken to your Uncle of their admiration for you."

"Oh by the God's" Unede said.

"Well, what about my son? I have heard muttering's," He said pointedly.

She flushed "Whatever you heard," she stopped. She remembered that evening a hundred years before. It was a new moon, on the eve of a great battle, one she thought they were sure to lose. She wiped the memory away in a flash. " You highness, these are matters of Queen, and country. I would not put our people's welfare at risk. The relations with my family are strained already. Taking your son as my mate, putting a crown on my head, would risk loosing trade relations at the very least. At worst they would may cease communication's."

"Why do you think that is."

"Because I looked into that mirror, and I choose to stay in middle earth despite what I saw."

"You were a child when she lay that burden at your feet Unede," The King reminded her gently, deciding that now was not the time to ask what she saw in the Mirror of Galadriel.

"And Legolas was born with a crown on his head. He has accepted it humbly and graciously every day sense." She said sternly "I broke my mother's heart, how can my family forgive that?"

Silence settled between them again, this was the most The King had ever heard her speak of her Grandmother.

"You love him then?" The king asked quietly.

Unede looked the King in the eye sternly "I would not be so foolish as to act in a way which could bring harm to this Kingdom."

The King nodded without word.

"Am I dismissed your highness?" She asked

He nodded again, and she left the room in a few swift steps.


	5. An Unforeseen Way In

_Authors Note: Thank you for taking the time to read my story! As you journey ahead, please keep in mind, this piece is purposefully written and published out of order. Things that may seem fluffy, confusing, or seem to be out of place, come around eventually, and by chapter 38/39 everything will make sense and weave together in a cohesive and exciting thread. Save for a few edits, this piece is mostly complete, and additional cut chapters, or our good old Legomance chapters can be found published under one shots on my profile. I think they are nice adjuncts to the story that don't have a place in the main part, but flesh out the characters and story better and many more will come. If there is enough demand I may eventually post an 'in-order' version of this fic, but only after this one is complete. A Golden Dawn will be updated twice a month, so please follow/favorite to get the updates :) _

An Unforeseen Way In

The Spring of 2063

Unede and Legolas studied the map of Mirkwood laid out on the table before them. Around the pair stood a dozen elves, silently watching as she and the Prince whispered to one another, and moved wooden pieces about on the map, planning for the coming siege.

"If we take the old road, we will be seen."

"If we take the river's were out in the open"

"The tree's will slow us down, we must be swift"

"We must be stealthy it may be our only choice"

Finally one of the elves in the back spoke "If it is a bind you are in Captains, I may have a solution" he said quietly. Legolas turned to look at him. He was tall, his russet hair flowed freely, and blended in the heavy robes he wore. He was old, Legolas knew that much looking at him, but it took a moment before he finally placed him, he was the master of art's, the Bard who had taught him to sing when he was a child. Legolas's brow came together, unable to hide is confusion.

"Master Birgolad, we will be thankful to hear any of aide you may offer".

Birgolad was silent for a moment, and then spoke slowly, and nervously. "When I was a child, my mother would pick flowers, one day, she was high in a tree picking the great white blooms of the Magnolia. But she did not hear the hum of the fire wasps, and when she picked a bloom, a wasp hidden beneath the petals sprayed its venom on her hand. It was long ago, but I remember, my mother's hand swelled, and turned purple. By the time she was home, the skin of her finger tips had fallen away, and she was weak and seeing visions dance before her eye's. She healed, but it took many weeks, and her hand was never as strong".

Unede looked him in the eye and shared a smirk "You think we should poison our enemies".

Birgolad nodded "Aye. Though I may be a singer by trade Captain Unede, I keep the bees of the woods so our food may grow, and our people may have bitter honey. The fire wasps have a habit of invading the hives of any keeper, but they are subdued with smoke, and perhaps by a little song." The Bard quipped.

Whisper's spread about the room, and soon the quiet turned into a hum, nearly like that of the fire wasps. Legolas raised his hand to quiet those surrounding him.

"Can you breed these wasps, can you subdue them and collect their poisons?" The prince said.

"I can your highness" Birgolad said.

"Do it" Unede said assuredly "and tell us what you require to breed enough of these fire wasps to release them into every passage in Dol Guldur, and to make enough poison to tip ten thousand arrows."

The room lit up again with noise, the room seemed to ripple as the elves spoke of this untested plan.

Legolas raised his hand again silencing the crowd.

"Do it" Unede repeated, "and we will prepare for battle in the fall, when the orc's begin to take refuge in the hall's of the necromancer. When the host has gathered our armies will attack. We will take no prisoners, and we will kill this necromancer. Our forest will be whole again".

And so it began, the spring and summer of 2063 became known's to the bee keeper's of the woodland realm as the Season's that Hummed. The keepers built new hives for wasps, and released half their bee's into the forest to build homes for themselves. In their place the fire wasp's came and began to multiply as they fed on the honey. Birgolad and his keeper's began the grueling task of subduing the fire wasps with smoke and collecting the treacherous liquid from the venom sac's one at a time. It was tiring work, and dangerous, more than once, an elf had breathed in a scent of the poison, and had to be rushed to the healing ward's for treatment. But never, did an elf raise their voice against the plan the captains and the bard had hatched.

Soon the healers realized that the fumes of the wasps' were powerful enough to stun even the strongest of elves. On the orders of Legolas, the healers and wasp keepers, met with the painter's of the court who knew how to extract the brightest hues by condensing the pigments of flowers, berries, and minerals. So it was, by bringing these master's together, both a tar to coat an arrow, and a poison vapor were created by their expert hands. As the summer passed a silent support grew through the ranks of the elves who tested the poison tipped arrows, and vials of fumes on the Orc's. The warriors witnessed near instant death, even with the smallest of exposures to the venom and reported the success of the plan to the Captains and the King.

As summer came to an end, scouts were sent out to monitor the movement of the great host of orc's in the south, and to bring word of their secret tunnels, and passageways that gained them entrance into the heart of Dol Guldur. The captains met with each of the scouts to be sent in to the treacherous place, and lay onto their hearts the need for both absolute secrecy of the elven presence. For they required complete certainty of every way the orc's might move through the endless corridors of the hills of sorcery.

As the days grew shorter, and the leaves began to change, the King called for his captains, his majors, his scouts, his painters, and his bard. They gathered round the table in his great study, and a map was spread upon it. Once again Legolas and Unede placed their wooden pieces out onto the table, and looked to their scouts for guidance.

"The orc's come from these two gate's in the north" the scout pointed to four spots on the map, and heavy tokens were placed onto the table. "But there are smaller entrances, here on the outskirts in the east and the west, where their armies could spill out and surround us," more tokens thumped into place. "But, it is here on the northern summit, high in the peaks where they are the weakest. It is not inhabited, save by bats. The bats fly each night out of these tunnels, and in the day they return to the caverns".

"These caverns" Unede said " Do they reach the strong hold?"

"Aye my lady"

"And have you been there" Legolas pressed

"I have, there is a crevasse which opens into the roof of a great cavern where the main host dwells, you must crawl to reach the opening. The crevasse is wide and shallow, but easy to get through, should we desire".

Mutterings filled the room again when he finished, and the King raised his hand to silence the room.

"You have found a way in" Tranduil spoke slowly "How do you plan to take the strong hold?" He watched Unede and she smiled and her eyes grew dark.

"A small host of elves will go through these crevasse, and fill the room with the vapors of the fire wasps to kill the main host," She started, and Legolas continued.

"When the host is distracted, entrances on the north, east and west, will be coated in the tar. When the orc's come out, they will die from the poison, or they will be shot."

"And how will you protect yourselves?" The King asked pointedly.

"I shall protect them your majesty" The painter spoke up. His small stature seemed to shrink even more as the King grew to his full height, and brought his hefty gaze on the artist.

"You taught my son to draw, and now you will protect him in battle? He is the heir to the throne, how will paint's, and pencils keep him alive" The King spat the words.

The elf shrank more, his head lowered, and he seemed to be hidden behind his hair. Finally, he managed the courage to stammer out a few words "The fumes of my paints can make any elf light headed, so we wear masks, and the bee keepers tell us it has saved them many times from the vapors of the venom" He said nervously.

"And his charcoal" Another elf said, with more confidence, Unede recognized him as a healer "It has neutralized the venom when it has touched skin."

Though the King's face softened, the room fell into a stiff silence, and one dared to even breath. Minutes passed, and the silence thickened around them, even the crackle of the fire had quieted. Finally, the King spoke breaking the tension of the room "You have enough of the tar and vapor?"

"Enough for every elf in Middle Earth to have a pint of each" said Birgolad the Bard.


	6. A Demand Unanswered

Chapter 6 A Demand Unanswered

Year 100 of the Third Age Age, 156 years after the defeat of Sauron.

Their swords clashed, and the singing of the live steal echoed through the forest. Unede parried a blow, once, twice, a third time. As opponent raised his sword for a fourth attack, she met his blade above, but sudden kick to the gut left her breathless and on her back. She rolled over, the grass stuck to her sweaty face, but before she could leap to her feet, the cold steel pressed to her throat and she winced at the pressure. After a moment the blade was removed and she opened her eyes to see Haldir staring down at her, frustration filled his piercing blue eyes.

"What have you learned from this?" He demanded.

"Guard my mid-section, and don't loose my balance when there is a blow from above."

"Good, and what else? Why did you meet my strike four times in the air?" He pressed.

"I should have feigned to meet it, and moved to the side, then struck your legs instead." She said as she lifted her self to a sitting position and wiped the grass from her clothes.

"My brother has taught you something then." Haldir laughed. He offered her a hand and helped the elleth to her feet. They stood for a moment, and caught their breath, and then Haldir smiled, and clapped her on the back "Alright now little soldier, go and see your Mother lunch is likely ready."

Unede nodded and bowed to Haldir, offering him the blade with both hands. After he had accepted the sword she turned, and walked down the narrow dirt path leading out of the clearing. She quieted her steps, and listened to the wind whisper through the trees, and felt the warm sun dry the sweat on her brow. The day reminded of her of when was a child her father had spent afternoons in the heart of Green Wood with her playing wooden swords and climbing high into the tree tops to watch he limbs sway in the breeze. The memory made her chest tight, and she brought her focus back to the little dirt path that wound through the ancient Mallorns.

The sun was high over head by the time she reached her families Talan in the center of Caras Galadhon. She beheld its soaring golden boughs and saw the stairs rise a thousand feet into the air supported by little more than ropes and thin limbs. She pursed her lips and curled her hands into fists, and then began the long climb into ancient tree.

There in the tree tops where the only sounds were those of boughs creaking in the winds, and birds calling to each other was the house where her mother dwelt. Unede watched her for a moment, they shared the same slim stature and coiled golden hair, but it seemed that on her mother's shoulders sat a great darkness, and her spirit felt small and cold, much unlike Unede remembered it when she was a youth.

Her mother turned around "oh my child" she whispered, putting down her tea and bringing her daughter into a tight embrace. Unede felt her mother's cool body press against her own. "You mustn't be gone for so long my dear one." She said squeezing her daughters shoulders.

"I was gone but for the morning Mother."

"Yes but with those swords, Unede, those frightening piercing things, you must be more careful."

"I am careful mother, Haldir and Rumil have taught me well, I learn more every day."

"Child, you must stop this, it is foolish" She pushed a hot cup of tea into Unede's hands "you are my daughter, my child, my only one. Stay safe for me, stay here with me. You know not what is out there in this world." Her frail hands cupped Unede's face as she pleaded with her.

"Mother, it is but sword play-" Unede started, as she sat her tea down on the counter.

"I said enough!" Her raised her voice, and then brought a hand to her mouth with a little gasp, as if she herself was surprised at the voice that had spoken. "Unede eat, drink your tea, and change out of those clothes, and come with me to the river. We can sew with the other ladies. Come with me, and bring your knitting, or your painting." Laurebrian hastily put a plate of breads and fruits into her daughters hands, and brushed the dirt from her sleeves.

"I…" Unede started, but looked at her mother, her pale eyes ringed with dark circles, and her skin as light as a birch tree. "Of course, of course Mother I will come with you." She said quietly, and took a piece of bread off an offered plate. When she had eaten, Unede walked to her room. There in the bows of the tree was her reprieve. A cool breeze fluttered the drawings she had pinned to the walls, and stirred smell of books that were scattered about on her desk. This small space was her own, the only spot where she felt relief from the grief of her family. She took a moment to shake off the weight of her mothers mourning and release it to the wind.

Unede removed the layers of leather she wore, and pulled off her cloth shoes, and exchanged it for the gown that her mother had lay out on her bed. She heaved a sigh, and knew that this was a kindness, that she was lucky to have as much of her mother as she did. When she had changed and readied herself, she left the room, and together the pair made their way down the long-twisted staircase to the ground below.

As they walked through the bustling city towards the river her mother confided in her. "Unede, when your father died, a part fea with him. I feel my body wither every day as my spirit becomes weaker."

"I know mother" Unede whispered taking her mother's hand "I will be strong with you, I will be strong for you." They continued walking, they feigned smiles at the people they knew, and gave swift greetings to their friends as they passed. But when the crowds had thinned her mother spoke again.

"I know my child, I live for you my darling daughter" Laurebrian said "But I can not stay much longer my love. I must go to the undying lands, I must sail to Valinor."

"Mother, you… you can't leave me here!" Unede stopped in her tracks, but Laurebrian guided her daughter off the path to a bench by the road.

"My child, you must understand, please" She begged. Unede's mouth hung agape, and tears stung her eyes. She said nothing, and instead focused on the elves that passed them by. Warriors with their great bows, couples holding hands and laughing, Ladies clad in layers of silk whispering and giggling. No one seemed to pay attention to the widowed woman and her only daughter. And though Unede was surrounded by a thousand fea's, her heart felt a cold loneliness creep over it, and she recognized the familiar feeling of grief. "You should come with me Unede."

"Mother" Unede began to protest.

"Or stay, Unede, stay here it is safe here with your grandparents. They will care for you, no harm will come to you. You can come afterword's, you can take your time to say your goodbyes and meet me in Valinor and we can all be together again. We can go to the Hall's of Mandos and we can beg to have your father back."

"Mother you are not Luthien" Unede spat, she knew the words stung. Her mother's face grew pale, and she appeared to shrink where she sat. It seemed that if Unede didn't hold her there, if she didn't grip her mother's cold hands as tightly as she could, that the breeze would wisp her fea away to the Hall's of Mandos without a ship at all.

The pair sat in silence for many hours. The city creeped along, untouched by the grief that hid in its midst. The shadows of the trees moved across the road, and grew long, as the amber creep of evening kissed the sky. There in the golden twilight a woman made her way down the road. Taller than those around her and clad in flowing white silks, she seemed to glow even as the dusk come upon them. Wordlessly she came to the pair, and the ladies behind her surrounded the trio, breaking their bench away from the prying eyes of passing elves.

"Mother" Laurebrian whispered.

"Laurebrian, you are weary, go with my ladies and be refreshed." She said placing a hand on her daughters cheek. "Later we shall eat, and sing, and warm your spirit my child." She offered a hand to frail elleth and helped her rise from the stone seat. In a moment she was cloaked in while wool's and furs and guided gently away by Galadriel's hand maids. Then the wise elf turned her attention tp the one before her.

"You are so early in your second cycle, and yet you are burdened by the weight of all the evils of this world" Galadriel said, taking a seat next to her granddaughter.

"It is as though a winter has come upon my soul." Unede whispered "Why has she given me this impossible demand?" she held back tears, and tipped her head back looking up to the stars "is there nothing I can do to bring my mother joy? To warm her fea so she might stay with me?"

Galadriel wiped the tears from Unede's face and pulled her in closer, wrapping her in a tight embrace. "There is nothing in all of Middle Earth that can save her lest she sail".

Unede let out a deep sob "How am I left with a decision such as this, I hardly know life here, and now she asks me to go to Valinor, to forsake this land and all of my people."

"Or to stay here with me." Galadriel spoke as she stroked the child's hair. "But you are home sick aren't you. The call of the great green forest is in your heart."

Unede pulled away and gripped at her grandmothers hands "I would not dare speak the words to Mother".

"She knows already what your hearts desire is, and it is why she ask's you to remain in the Golden Wood."

Unede looked down, and though the air on her skin grew cool with the chill of the night air, she felt her cheeks burn with anger for a life unlived.

"She looked in the mirror." Unede said flatly. "She has seen my fate."

"The mirror is perilous. What she see's may not come to pass." Galadriel warned.

But Unede was steadfast and brought her eyes to meet her grandmother's gaze. "Yet I have the courage and wisdom enough for the venture, and I shall look too if you will allow it."


	7. A Surprising Connection

Chapter 7 A Surprising Connection

Year 103 of The Third Age

The arrow whistled through the air and met its mark with a heavy thud, burying the shaft deeply into the hay.

"You see" he said "you must relax, relax your hands, and your mind, empty your breath. Choose your spot, nock your arrow and release. Think only of the target- you are to tense; your mind to busy." Legolas handed her the bow, and reached for another arrow "all right, your turn again".

Unede focused on the target. She tried to let the bow rest in her palm, and to grip the string loosely. She nocked the arrow and just before she was about to lift the bow Legolas placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Wait" he said "relax your shoulders, then when you pull back anchor the bowstring. Line it up on the center of your nose and let your hand rest near your ear." He gently touched her jaw line as he spoke "It won't harm you."He stepped away "Now try again."

She repositioned, readied bow, anchored the bowstring, and released the arrow. It flew across the field and sunk into the hay just outside of the target.

"An improvement" She said with a smile.

"Indeed!" The ellon replied.

The air filled with the sounds of whizzing arrows, and soon the quiver before them was empty, and arrows were scattered about at the end of the range, their tips glimmering beneath the light of the afternoon sun.

"I heard you trained with the Galadhrim" Legolas said as they made their way to collect the spent arrows.  
"Oh, I wasn't aware I had become common gossip, who did you hear this from?" She inquired, as she pushed her hair behind her ear and watched for the ellons reaction.

"You have not, don't let it trouble you" He sensed her prying would not end, so he continued "I heard it from my father, he takes pleasure in knowing all the gossip among the army, you are not among the chatter of the court." Legolas wrenched an arrow from the hay and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Do you have family in the Golden Wood?"

"My mother was from there, but my father hailed from Mirkwood, after he died we returned to Loth Lorien to be with my Grandparents while my mother mourned." They were quiet for a moment, each pulling arrows from they hay, and sliding them into their quivers with dull clicks.

"But you came back to Mirkwood." Legolas pressed. Unede nodded, and felt it was safe to explain a little more.

"My father was a General, and he sat on the King Oropher's council, I came to protect the people he died for, as is my duty." Legolas nodded at her words, and they made their way back to the shooting range, and found their place in the last row, far away from the stands where onlookers often sat to observe their champions. Today only a few ladies sat in the stands with their wine, and their silks to watch the new recruits who shot further up the field.

"I lost my Mother, it is a terrible thing, the grief." Legolas whispered, "My father, he hasn't been the same since, but sometimes I see him, behind the hard mask of duty that he wears."

They were quiet for a moment "Your father was on Oropher's council, what was his name?" Legolas asked as Unede nocked another arrow and took aim. It thudded into the bottom of the target, missing the mark.

Unede looked at Legolas, and wondered why he was so prying. He knew more than he let on, and he held back more than she could guess. She fired another arrow, and pondered his motivation, so many of these young ellon's were the same, they hear a name, and hope it get's them in the door of some great house. She looked at him pointedly and decided to be direct "We are here to train. Why are you asking me all these questions?"

"Forgive me, I was only making conversation. I thought perhaps our families knew each other, since they served in the same court." He said simply.

She fired another arrow, it flew truly and thumped nearer to the center of the target. She realized his father must be of higher rank in the army. If his father knew of her training, then he likely knew her father and could have vouched for her entrance into the kingdom. If this was true, then Legolas would be told her of her linage eventually. She watched him take aim, anchor his arrow and release the bowstring, the arrow sang as it flew and hit the center of the target with little effort.

"My Father was General Gelmir, and my mother is Laurebrian of the house of Finarfin." She spoke barely above a whisper.

Legolas looked at her, and let out a shy smile, his eyes glimmered in the warm sunlight "And your mother went to be with her mother, The Lady of Light." He whispered as she nodded. They stood in silence for a moment, each watching the reaction of the other, the air was thick between them, but after a moment Legolas broke the tension, and finally spoke "My father knew Gelmir. He sat with him on the Kings Council and fought with him at the Battle of Dagorlad" Legolas bit his tongue, not knowing if he should say more "My father was with General Gelmir when he was slain" Legolas breathed the words.

Unede looked down, and tightened her eyes to hold back tears, the loss was still to fresh.

"Forgive me I should not have spoken out of turn My Lady." Legolas said reaching out to touch his shoulder. She shook her head and placed his hand on his. But, then a fire went through her, and she pushed his hand away, who was this boy to stand before her, and claim their families knew each other? Who was this stranger come to raze her noble house? The son of some small captain, likely the Bow Master's boy. The archer surely would have been in the battle, and likely guarding her father and the King as they fought the The Darkness. It explained his mastery with the weapon.

She watched him and felt an anger flush to her cheeks. "Who is your father that you would claim all these bonds between our houses?" She spat.

Legolas looked at her sheepishly, and realized, that despite the day's they had spent training together with long knives, and the many afternoon's on the archery range, that neither of them had any idea who the other was. He smiled broadly, unable to hide his amusement in the blind defensives that had been bred into them.

"What amuses you so."

"If our parent's were here to see us, they would call us blind asses, and we would never hear the end of it" He jested. "My father is The King, Unede. We have nothing to fear from each other, except dull dinners, and tedious early morning council meetings."

Unede could not stifle her laughter, and the tension dissolved between them as they giggled together in the heat of the afternoon sun, at the end of the archery range, in a spot which they had both chosen, because it was away from prying eyes.

She watched the joyful Prince and felt her walls' fall away. For she knew that she had found someone that she could trust. Someone who's motives were as pure as hers. Someone who's house had stood by her own for a thousand years, an elf who was an ally.

Though it seemed from the outside, that nothing had changed between the pair, their fea's felt the roots of a bond begin to take hold, and their hearts felt a little lighter.


	8. A Hand in the Dark

The Summer of 2063 4 months before the Siege of Dol Guldur.

"Is he in there" Unede whispered into the darkness.

"No."

"Then I need you to let me in." Unede said hurriedly as she glanced up and down the hallways.

"What's in your hand cousin."

"Ingwe, do this for me."

He looked her up and down. Her hand's clinched around letters, her brow set, she looked worse than she had on the eve of her first battle.

"You look terrible." Ingwe said "Why do you want in the King's study. I can't let you in here."

"You can and you will." She said faster.

"Why?" He frowned. His dark hair blended into the wall, and his jovial nature quieted into combat.

"Ingwe I am your Captain-"

"Don't pull rank on me Unede, I have orders." He whispered hastily into the dark.

But before she could respond a shadow appeared in the glimmer of the torches and light steps pattered on the stone. Unede shot an angry look at her Cousin, her only chance had been thwarted. Family loyalty be damned, the thing's she does for Eryn Galen. The shadow slipped past the great arches, and finally in the dim light, Unede watched as the Prince approached. She let out a sigh, her plans were through. She had no chance now.

"What are you doing here so late?" He said smiling at Unede.

She shrugged "Chastising Ingwe about missing family Dinner tonight. Perhaps if he were to ask kindly, I would bring him a plate." Ingwe gave her a dark looked from behind his furrowed brow. "And you?"

"Oh I left my cloak in the study." Legolas replied, and then caught sight of the papers in her hands, and the ink stains on her finger tips. She was up to more, she always had some plan, some idea he never knew about until the fruits of her mind were ready to be birthed. "I think I saw your pen in here earlier, you know, the one that doesn't leave you covered in ink?" He smiled at Ingwe.

"If she just said she needed her pen, I would have let her in." He rolled his eyes and unlocked the heavy wooden doors.

"After you my Lady." Legolas gestured to her.

The pair entered the study, it was quiet, the fire was in embers, the windows closed, the dead of night had settled in the room.

"You can trust me with these schemes you have you know." Legolas said as he walked towards the couch where his summer cloak was flung across the arm. He looked at Unede, her skin pale and clammy, her hands shaking.

"Not this one, not this time." She breathed. They were quiet for a moment and then she shook her head "Your father may have me banished if he knew."

"I do not think he would, I would not let him at least. Unede there is nothing you could do that would make me abandon you."

Unede looked away, unable to make eye contact with the Prince. She collected herself, and looked at Legolas, shame filled her stomach as she thought about the letter's in her hand. They were a unit, meant to work in tandem, in harmony, she could not hold this secret from him, however much shame it brought to her.

She extended her hand to Legolas, holding the unsealed letters out "I know we are strong" she whispered "but we could be stronger together. I know not what drove apart our houses Legolas, but the people of Mirkwood should not suffer over some thousand-year-old quarrel."

Legolas looked at her puzzled and reached for the letter's. In the dim light of the embers he unfolded the heavy paper and read the words that she had penned. When he finally looked at her, she could hardly glance at him before her eyes fell back at the floor.

"You mean to call for aide from Rivendell and Lothlorien." He whispered.

"I do, we need the healers, we need the swords. My family can help, should they decide to."

Legolas watched her, she rarely spoke of her Mother's side of the family, and he often forgot she hailed from a great house which held at its head wise, and powerful elves. She had always pressed the importance of independence and strength for the elves of Eryn Galen, and yet she was the only daughter of the eldest child of the Lady of Light. Here before him was the heir to the oldest of houses, and he felt small before her. She was right, whatever ancient quarrel rested between the old ones, it was time to put it to an end.

He walked to his Father's desk and found his wax and seal. The Prince lit a match and held it to the wax, letting the green liquid drip onto the folded papers before him. As the puddles began to cool, he pressed the seal of the King into it, then replaced his Father's tools to their case.

When the wax had dried, he slid the letters into the pocket of his cloak and walked towards Unede. In the quiet dark he took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. They watched each other for a moment, and then finally Legolas spoke.

"Come to the aviary with me." And he led her silently out of the study, past her Cousin, and down the arched stone hallway.

Their feet padded dully on the stone stair's as they climbed high into the mountainside, and soon the soft cooing of birds could be heard in the distance.

"Do you think they will come?" Legolas said as he opened the door to the aviary.

"No" Unede said "But The White Council should know that we will do this great thing alone. They should know that we are humble enough to recognize when we are in need, and they must understand that Eryn Galen would answer their call if it came."

Legolas turned to face her "Would we? Would my father?" he asked.

"I would." She whispered. He nodded, and knew she was right, he would fight for any elven kingdom should there be a need, as was his duty.

Legolas tied a letter to the leg of a bird, and then another, and whispered to them gently as he held them in his hands. They coo'd and roo'd and finally spread their wings and slipped silently out of the window and into the night.

* * *

The day's passed by in a silent tension. Unede was often found pacing the halls late into the evenings, often wordlessly with the Prince, and the King had begun to take notice of the hefty weight that held his Captain's tongues.

"What news have you that silences you so." Thranduil said to her when at last he found her wondering alone.

"None at all my King, it is as though the whole of Middle Earth stands still." She said quietly. The King stopped, but his Captain continued silently down the winding hall and into the darkness.

But then, after the sun had risen and set, and risen again, on an afternoon breeze, came a bird carrying a letter with a seal of gold. It was addressed to Unede, and clasped in the hands of the Prince, who had snatched the Bird from the aviary when he saw it fly in on the wind

Legolas handed her the parchment with a shaking hand.

She cracked the seal, and fluttered the papers open, but a moment later flung them into the fire before her. The bright red made her golden hair seem aflame, and her face crinkled with the anger of a thousand years fought without allies.

"We are alone then." Legolas said as he watched the parchment burn.

"We have always been alone." Unede confirmed, and she felt her heart grow harder.


	9. A Look into a Mirror

Chapter 9

Year 100 of the Third Age, 156 Years After the Defeat of Sauron

The glen was silent, and still under the glimmering stars. Ancient mallorns grew high into the air, their branches intertwining in a canopy of green. The tree's seemed to whisper to each other, their voices carried by the cool night air as the two elves wondered between their trunks and came to stand by the pedestal in the center of the ancient glade.

"So you wish to look into the Mirror?" Galadriel said. In her hands she lifted a silver pitcher, and water tinkled softly into the ancient metal basin before her. The water bubbled and swirled then finally came to a rest, forming a flat silvery surface filled by the light of the stars above.

"I am afraid" Unede bit her lip.

"We are all afraid to know what we do not, but it is how we become wise."

"Are you still afraid?" She has her grandmother "Though you are the wisest of the elves."

Galadriel paused and pondered the young one's question for in her life she had seen the darkness come and settle in Middle Earth and had only found a restful moment again in the last decades of her life. "I am afraid of many things, I fear the darkness, and I fear loss, but I do not fear knowledge. I do not fear how you will use the knowledge that you gain."

"You know what I will see."

"I know what you may see, but not all that is in the mirror is known to me."

Unede nodded and remembered her fathers last words to her "Be brave my dear and know that I love you." He had whispered them to her at the gates of the Palace, before he rode away with King Oropher and Prince Thranduil for the last time.

"Alright" the elleth whispered, and she stepped onto the pedestal, and gazed down into the perilous water's before her.

* * *

At a long wooden table, in a great stone room, sat a dozen elves. Unede recognized many of their faces from her childhood. King Oropher, Prince Thranduil, Lord Elrond, King Gil-Galad, Lord Celeborn, her father, Haldir, but a few faces she did not know.

A tension ran through the room, as her father moved tokens about on a great map.

"The men will be defeated, then Sauron will come for the elves, and all of the rest of middle earth. We will perish if we do not unite." Gelmir said to the others, as he ticked off the wood tokens and moved the black pieces of the dark army cross the lands. "They will come across Dagorlad, and take Lothlorien and Eryn Galen first."

"An alliance with men?" Lord Elrond said "Would it not be wiser to sail, to take our people to the undying lands? The elves have been called across the sea's, our time is over here. Safety is far from these shores."

A dark look passed between the King of the Woodland Realm and his son.

"Our time has only begun." King Oropher said. "We should offer an alliance. We should fight with the men. My people do not have a sea longing, and I intend to protect them."

"That choice is your by right, protect them if you must, but do not bring harm to Rivendell through it." Elrond hissed across the table.

"Haldir what have you to say." Lord Celeborn looked to his warden who had sat silently at the table through the evening.

Haldir's face was solemn, and his eyes showed the heaviness of the burden they faced. "I do not have the sea longing. This is my home, and many I know in Lothlorien wish to remain. The General of Eryn Galen speaks the truth, we should offer an Alliance to the race of men. We should fight Sauron together, lest we all perish."

The room fell silent, and her father placed the elven tokens back on to the table in Dagorlad with heavy thumps.

Lord Celeborn spoke again "I shall send word to Rohan and Gondor, and we will ready our army for battle. Can we count on Rivendell to for aide?"

All eyes fell on Lord Eldrond, his face was grim and heavy, but he nodded.

Without warning the image in the mirror shifted, and the waters became dark and heavy. Smoke filled Unede's vision, and the great black mountains rose against the horizon against a red sky. The clash of swords and zing of arrows filled the air as a great battle raged on. Men's shouts, and the screams of the dying were all around, as the legions of orcs poured forth onto Dagorlad. There on the slopes of Orodruin Unede saw a flash of gold and blond. There on the hills of the mountains stood Sauron himself. Clad in iron armor with a helm of darkness atop his head, he wielded a great black mace, covered in the blood of untold men and elves, and he raised it above his head.

The Dark Lords blow came down on a great broad sword and Unede saw the face of King Oropher begin to break under the strain as his strength gave way. From the edge of the cliff a knife flew through the air striking the armor of Sauron and The Terrible Dread raised his gaze to find Gelmir standing in defiance his sword in hand. As he looked away from The King, a fearsome blow came to his side from the great spear Aeglos.

Sauron let out a fearsome cry, and struck King Oropher down with a great swing of his mace. As Oropher fell King Gil-Galad made another assault. Sauron took Aeglos into his hand, wrenching it from the grasp of the Gil-Galad. The King of the Noldor fell forward into his mighty grasp, and there in by the great fiery hand of The Dark Lord, he was burnt. As his body fell, Thranduil let out a great cry, but Gelmir pushed him back from the battle, and into the fray of orcs and elves. Then, her father too was taken by the fiery hand of Sauron, before he turned to Elendil, who fell by his blow and his sword lay broken beneath his body.

But before she could comprehend the enormity of what she had seen the scene shifted, and Unede found her self on a great bald hill which rose above a sea of green trees. She had heard stories of Amon Lanc in the south of Mirkwood, but her heart was unsettled by what she saw. A terrible shadow, and a hoard of orc's and men raising a battlement along the mountain's base. And there atop the treeless peak the construction of a tower had begun. Without warning, Unede felt and dark presence upon her, and her breath was taken from her chest, yet she could not scream when the eyes of the necromancer turned toward her. He watched her there for a moment before he raised his great mace and brought it down upon her.

* * *

Unede fell back from the mirror, and onto the ground below. In her eyes a terror loomed, and she could not find the strength to move from the forest floor.

Galadriel watched her granddaughter silently, until the breath in her chest stilled. Then she spoke "You have seen the defeat of Sauron, and the death of those you love."

Unede nodded but did not speak.

"But you have been shown more?"

"A great shadow comes to the south of my home. He looked upon me and knows my heart. It is The Dark Lord. He has come north." Unede said breathlessly.

"Sauron was defeated, though his spies and servants abound" Galadriel took the child into her arms "Rest your heart my dear one, you are safe here in these woods, you saw no more than a sorcerer."

"No" Unede spoke firmly. "Sauron lives, and he means to find safe harbor in the Eryn Galen. But he will not."

Galadriel watched her, as the young elf brought herself to her feet.

"You are powerful and wise Grandmother, and you can withstand his presence. Your blood flows in my veins, and I shall protect my home and my people from this wraith. Sauron will not take Eryn Galen. When he comes, I will drive him out, he shall find no peace while I live."

Galadriel watched her and wondered if she would leave her house so soon. "These are your people, this is your home." She said her voice growing firmer "When I sail with your mother in the spring you will be the Lady of Lothlorien, and you will bear Nenya and be the shield of our people."

"It is not Lothlorien that needs a shield." Unede whispered "And you will not sail for another age. My Mother will sail alone and find peace when she does. But my path here has come to an end. I will go home."


	10. A Secret on Their Lips

Chapter 10: A Secret on Their Lips

The Year 1900 of the Third Age

They found no sleep that night. The chilly night air sat still, and silent on the skin of the elves. They were high in the trees of the Southern Forest and hidden in the branches that held the talans for the warriors of Mirkwood.

A sliver of a moon bathed the forest in darkness, and far in the south could be seen the flickering of fires upon a hill. The necromancer had raised his fortress, and his growing army glittered in the distance. Even now they knew the forest around Dol Guldur swam with orcs. Though the night brought with it a risk of death, it was the orcs boldness that made the young Prince's bones grow cold.

Legolas sought refuge alone for many hours that night high in the branches of the tree. He watched the lights flickering in the distance, as the hordes moved about the hill. Though his comrades found peace in company and wine on the flets below, he could not shake the fear from his heart.

It was a deliberate footstep that pulled him from this vantage, and in the dim light of the stars, he saw the golden hair of his companion. Wordlessly, she sat beside him and offered him a leather cup of wine. He smiled and took it from her.

She settled beside him on the branch and followed his gaze to the hill of sorcery. For a thousand years they had trained for tomorrow night. They would travel in the trees and slay their enemies. They would draw the sorcerer from his halls and smite him, freeing their forest from darkness. 

Unede's gaze fell to Legolas. His hair and skin milky in the starlight. His jovial spirit quieted to the harden warrior he had become. She wondered if this was the beginning of their last day together. Her heart quickened, and her tongue stilled. How cruel it had been that her fea sang for him, and what hurt more: the secret or the truth? She had not seen this in the mirror all those years ago. Perhaps she would come back to this place, reborn to seek him out if he would have her. Unede held in a sigh, and felt weak, an Ellon was not what she had come for. Revenge, she reminded herself. She would avenge the death of her Father. She would free her people from the darkness that resided in the southern forests.

"You're very quiet." He said, interrupting her thought.

"My mind is so full I must still my tongue." She said at last into the darkness.

He laughed at her words "You have always thought and thought, it is a wise thing you do melda."

"I looked into her mirror once." She spoke again. Legolas watched her intently, as the quiet of the night settled around them. He dared not move or speak, lest he feared she would be silent again. "I am going to die tomorrow." His chest tightened, as her lips stilled, but he could not bring himself to speak. "And though my better judgement has stilled my tongue for a thousand years, I will say an unwise thing now, and I will hope that you answer in sooth." She quieted again, and the seconds passed by like days as the Prince sat frozen. He could not find his breath, and he could not look away from her as the tension stilled his body. "If you desire, I shall petition Manwe and return to Middle Earth."

Legolas's tongue held in his mouth, already he felt his body falling away from him, and grief settling in his chest. She was not even his mate and yet his very breath was a struggle without her fea near his. He took her hand and gripped it in quiet desperation. Finally, when his panic had passed, he spoke.

"If you die tomorrow, there is no need to petition Manwe." He said "For I will meet you in the Halls of Mandos not long after."

They sat silently in the bows of the tree as the moon moved silently across the sky and they watched the doom of their love flicker in the distance.

"I would take you as my mate tonight if you would have me." Legolas whispered to her. He brought his hand to her face and rested his forehead on hers.

"That would be foolish thing for us to do." She whispered, as he brought her face closer.

There in the bow's their lips met for the first time, and in the furry of their kiss, Unede reached for the clasps on his jerkin and began to undo them.

But a moment later, their passions were interrupted by the clinking of rusted armor and heavy footsteps far beneath them, and before they could think the pair was moving down the branches to the flet below.

They landed quietly on the wooden boards, and found the soldiers crouching along the edges with their bows drawn.

"Captains" One breathed moving away from the edge to meet them at the trunk. Legolas recognized he messenger he had worked with many times before. "The hoard will be here soon, a great company of orcs moves towards Dol Guldur from the west."

"What are their numbers." Unede whispered hastily. She moved to the edge far below her their armor glittered in the starlight.

"Five thousand at least by our estimates." He answered, unfolding the map he held in his hands.

"And archers?" Legolas asked, trying to judge if they had enough arrows.

"A few hundred, our flets are likely out of range." He pulled a map hastily from his pockets. "we have half their numbers, but soon they will be below us, and surrounded." He pointed to the flets on the map. He was right, the army would be encircled by their talans, and under many of them. The orcs were unprepared, and in the darkness would not find the elves with ease.

"The necromancer may leave his halls if we let them continue. He may meet them when they arrive in Dol Guldur. He would be out in the open, we could slay him where he stands." The dark haired elf before her said hastily.

"No," Legolas said "We will never pass his army, if these reinforcements reach Dol Guldur their walls will be too well protected. We can not meet them in the open with the numbers we have."

They studied the map silently, calculating if they would risk forsaking their siege.

"If we slay them here." Legolas said pointing to the map "word will reach the necromancer it may draw him out, he and his armies may meet us in the forest. We could defeat them from the treetops." 

But Unede shook her head "No, he would not be so foolish as to leave his strong hold. If we stay here it will be our doom, the orc's will burn the trees we hide in, and slay us where we stand." Legolas knew she was right. Their plan was forsaken, they should kill as many as they can, and retreat to the mountains.

"Signal the other talans to attack on our word. Slay as many as you can, and retreat North when the battle is done." Legolas said. The elf before him nodded and bowed.

"I shall give word to the others" Then he slipped away silently into the darkness of the branches, no more than a shadow of a branch in the night.

As they filled their quiver's with arrows and strung their bows, Unede smiled shyly at Legolas. Below her breath she whispered "We may yet live to see another day." He smiled unabashedly at her, and they readied themselves for the battle below.


	11. A Cahoots Between Cousins

Chapter 11 A Cahoots Between Cousins

The Summer of 2065

Miriel patted her hair and smoothed her dress with shaky hands. In the rooms beyond the clatter of dishes and the laughs of her family swirled throughout the home, and though it was familiar it was far from comforting.

"What if he make's a bad impression" She said as she adjusted her necklace and turned to look in the mirror sideways. Unede grabbed her shoulders to still her finicking. She reached across the table for the wine and pushed a cup into her hands.

"Hold still" She muttered and began tying the back of the dress.

"It's to tight Cousin!" She complained between drawing from the glass.

"Imagine that." 

"What if Mother and Father don't like him, what if they think he is cold." Miriel spoke incessantly as Unede continued her work.

"What if I drop the stew?" Unede remarked as she made the final tie in the back of the gown. Miriel's eyes darkened and her cheeks flushed at Unede's comment. "Anyway, is he cold?"

"No he is only quiet. He is somber and patient and shy." She said whimsically as she adjusted her hair.

Unede watched her cousin twist her brown hair and adjust her braids. She smoothed her dress again. Miriel turned in the mirror to see herself from all sides. The folds of the blue dress flattered her curves and fell in gentle cascades on the floor.

"Am I to formal" Miriel continued.

"No."

"Should my hair have fewer braids?"

"No." Now it was Unede's turn to fill her wine and drink deeply. She glanced out the window in between questions, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Legolas.

"What if I do not wear the necklace?"

"I have no taste in jewels, and you are beautiful without it."

"Well that's why I picked everything for your ceremony." Miriel said stubbornly, twisting the silver stone so it sat on her throat more pleasingly. Unede sighed, Miriel would never let her forget that her hands touched every part of that day. "I'll not wear it, tis only family." She removed the chain and slung it on the vanity.

"What is his name again?" Unede said taking another drink.

"Oh stop it Unede! You know his name is Braern." Miriel huffed and fixed her hair again. Unede smirked behind her cup, delighting in how easy it was to tease Miriel. She had waited so long to dance in the spring festival and come to court. Yet of all the men who had danced, her fea called out to the quiet boy who smiled shyly at her from the corner.

The afternoon sun began to dim, as the elleths finished their preparations, and chatted in the small room. As they placed the final pins in Unede's own hair, a group of ellons trotted down the walkway through the garden, and a knock came at the front door. Miriels eyes widened and she squeezed Unede's hands tightly between her own.

"I am all nerves." Unede smiled at her and remembered her own jitters from only a few months before, even though her own courtship had been so vastly different. Unede held her hand and pulled her to the door.

"Nothing to fear now dear, out we go." Unede flung the door open and pulled Miriel into the hall.

There in the great room of Aunt Indis and Uncle Olwe's home the family gathered in the arched stone doorway. Aunt Indis screeched in excitement, exchanging hugs, and pleasantries, and pushing sweets into the hand's of her daughter's potential mate. They laughed, and bowed, and a great happiness filled the room, making the hearth seem to burn a little brighter. Unede saw Miriels tensions give way, as Braern met Olwe in quiet conversation, and soon all of the heaviness had gone out of the room, and Unede felt her family grow a little bigger.

She joined them with her honeyed fruits and laughed as Legolas and Ingwe fought over the berries. Indis showed Braern all of her knitting, and sewing, and Olwe refreshed the cheeses and poured wine the wine into the cups of his guests.

"Your quiet" Olwe said to his niece as he refilled her glass.

"I am happy." Unede said with a great smile on her face. "More happy than words can say."  
"I am glad my dear." He said, pecking her atop the head, and moving back to the kitchen to shew Legolas away from the stews that bubbled on the fire.

As the evening drew closer to dinner Unede found herself alone in the kitchen. She counted the clay bowls before her and pulled spoons from the drawer for the table. Then went on pour more wine in the pitcher. But as the she tipped the bottle she stopped herself, and felt eyes watching her. She turned to find Braern standing silently in the doorway.

"Your Highness, forgive me I did not mean to startle you." He whispered bowing his head.

"Oh, you don't have to call me that." She said blushing and continued to pour the wine into the pitcher. "Miriel said you train the birds that carry messages. They have saved me many times." She placed the pitcher onto the table and handed him a filled glass. He took it graciously and sipped only after she did.

"I am honored it is so Your Highness." He continued. "I had hoped to speak with you in private for this reason. A letter came for you today. I felt it required discretion." He pulled the letter from the inside of his robe and handed to her.

The heavy paper was folded into a tight square, and holding the creases together was the blue seal of the House of Elrond. She turned it back and forth in her hands. It had been a thousand years since she had seen this seal. Words sat on her tongue and her stomach sank. Had they found out about her marriage? Would strife come between their houses? She recognized the writing of her Cousin Elladan She shook herself from the thought.

"Thank you Braern, for your discretion. I am in your debt." She touched his shoulder and the ellon bowed slightly before her.

"Oh there you are, do you need help carrying the plates?" Legolas quipped as he walked into the kitchen.

"Your Highness." Braern said greeting him.

"Oh, no, please." Legolas started, as he picked up the stoneware from the counter. "A letter" he noted "I had heard you worked with the birds Braern. Who is it from?"

"Arwen, she is off to Lothlorien again, I am sure." She lied quickly. Legolas shrugged, hefted the plates, and left the two alone in the kitchen.

The heavy door shut behind the couple as they entered their quarters.

"Lock it quickly" Unede said to Legolas. She moved hastily around the room, drawing the blinds and locking the doors so they were sealed into the sitting room.

"My love there is not a siege." Unede did not answer and instead struck a match and lit a candle. She ruffled in the folds of her dress and pulled out the letter. A sharp crack of wax, and a rustle of papers filled the room.

"It's not from Arwen Legolas, it is from Elladan and it bodes no good."

The words were sprawled hurriedly on the paper, and splotches of ink dotted the edges of each line. This was written in swift secret. Unede's hands shook as she began to read the words her cousin had pinned.

My Dear Cousin Unede,

Word has reached Rivendell that you have led a siege on Dol Guldur and defeated the necromancer in his halls. My brother and I are thankful that a watchful peace has fallen on the Kingdom you call home and are glad you have found the success we doubted. Forgive us, we beg you.

Legions of orcs have filled the Misty Mountains, and though Rivendell is protected by the powers of Vilya, the lives of our people are in more peril each day as the orc's grow bolder.

Without pride, and without permission, I ask for what aide you can offer. You sit on the Council of the King. Petition him so your kin may find safety and peace as you have.

Elladan

"My family needs help." She whispered.


	12. A Start to a Siege

Chapter 12

A Start to A Siege

The Fall of 2063

Legolas buckled his arm guard, and took a deep breath. He felt the trees around him shuddering with anxiety, the hum that could only be built by a thousand years of war. He pulled the curtain back from his room and found himself looking out of a talan high in the tree tops of the southern forest. Below him perched in the swaying branches of ancient oaks was the vast army of Mirkwood mulling about in a quiet murmur and preparing for war. He peered over the edge of the balcony and saw a map spread on a talan below him.

He recognized those crouched around it. The heavy robes and tangled golden crown of his father, the dark braids worn by the Captain of the Northern Guard and the frayed cape of Daeron the Captain of the Cavalry. And hunched over the middle of the table, with her curls falling unkempt onto the wooden table was Unede. She pushed the battle pieces back and forth on the map, as they argued over the best approach. She always showed restraint in battle, and had a keen eye for strategy, it balanced his fathers heavy handed approaches. He wondered absently if it mimicked the dynamic between her father and his grandfather. It was doubtless that her tactics had allowed them to successfully protect their roads and boarders for 5 centuries.

Legolas knew this meeting had begun well before he awoke. He had gone with a patrol the night before, and only returned just before dawn. Even then he saw Unede lighting candles and spreading maps onto the table. In the orange light of the early morning she had wiped his face clean with warm water, and picked the leaves out of his hair, and silently traced the scars on his shoulders and arms. Her touch had left him breathless and she reminded him that should his wounds need sutures he should ask for a healer, lest her unsteady hands leave him with yet another raised blunder on his skin. He sighed and thought it best to join them below, but the heavy anxiety that slithered through the bows of the trees made his skin crawl, and his stomach turn.

Regardless, he climbed down the thin rope ladder, and landed silently on the flet. The Prince moved to stand across the table from his father and nodded silent greetings at the captains gathered round the map.

"Legolas" his father spoke "I need you to lead the archers." He tapped the map. The Kings finger touched the entrances of Dol Guldur. Intertwined into the hill were the mouths of 4 caves that led into the bowels of the mountain. Atop the bald hill a wall sat about a great stone tower in the center and in the center lay a courtyard. "Here, we must have this area protected. When the necromancer flees he will come here, and I will meet him." He saw a shadow cross Thranduils face.

"No my King." Unede whispered. "Forgive me, but we cannot have you both in this battle. We risk death, and I'll not leave Eryn Galen heirless and under siege. I match you in skill, and I have a need for vengeance. Let me slay him."

A murmur passed between the other elves at the table, and Legolas noticed the Captain of the Cavalry darken his eyes and try to hide a sneer.

"Captain Unede, he is a necromancer, a sorcerer, no more. The King should slay him and be done with it." He adjusted the latch on his cloak and moved the King's token to the court yard. Unede's gaze grew hard and her jaw tight.

"Necormancer, Sorcerer, Gorthaur, Zigur, Annatar, call him what you wish, but the shadow remains the same. It is Sauron the Deceiver in that tower, and I'll not risk the death of another King by his hand." She said sternly and moved her wooden token to the center of the map with a heavy thunk.

The trees shivered with the tension between the two and Unede stared at the horseman with hard eyes and an unwavering gaze.

"Even if it is so," Daeron said exasperated "by the valar why do you think you can stand in his presence? Thranduil is our King, and Oropher fought Sauron, it is his right too."

"I have the strength and wisdom to withstand him." She said solemnly. The table fell silent around her, and she watched as Daeron crossed his arms and glared at the other captains.

"What say you my son" The King watched Legolas intently for his answer and wondered if he would put her in such danger. Legolas looked at Unede and pursed his lips and remembered all the nights she had gone to sleep in the limbs of a tree whispering words of vengeance after a long patrol.

"Sauron murdered her father- our General and her cousin King Gil-Galad. She is Unede Gelmiriel the blood of both Mirkwood and Finarfin runs in her veins. If there is any here who can withstand the Dark Lord it is she." He spoke slowly and watched the reactions of his Captains.

Daeron shook his head and placed his hands on the table. "All the more reason to leave her locked in the King's halls. If she dies all of Lothlorien will be at our door. Instead of orc's we will have Galadhrim at our gates. We should send her back to the Golden Wood and be done with it."

Unede was frozen with anger, and her blood grew cold in her veins. Her vision narrowed and she wondered how fast this horse lord was when he wasn't mounted on the back of a steed.

"You question my judgement Daeron." The King said darkly, leaning on his hands so his great robes made him appear larger.

"She questions your judgement-"

"She plans for war!" The King yelled and slammed his fists on the table. The wooden tokens clattered danced across the map, some spilling on to the floor of the talan and down towards the forest floor far below. "She plans to protect my lineage, and you insult my trusted Captain and Advisor." Thranduil gritted through his teeth.

"I am your trusted Captain, and I am advising you that sending the heir of Lothlorien to die in Dol Guldur is foolish." Daeron countered raising his voice at the King.

Legolas watched his father carefully, and saw the anger move through him like the wind rippling across the tree tops in a great gust. He feared the King's malice would soon be unrestrained, and he clinched is fists to brace himself against the coming attack. But Unede stood sullen across the table from him. Her blue eyes heavy with sadness and her shoulders slumped, and he remembered the conversation they had in the tree tops all those years ago.

"Galadriel knows I have come to these woods to die." She whispered before the King could start, and his anger dispensed like winds on a mountain side. "She will take no vengeance."

"Save for our lack of good honey" Legolas muttered under his breath.

"Hush your Highness." She responded in muted tones and moved her token once more to the courtyard. She turned to Thranduil "Your Majesty, you should go to your halls and bring everyone inside until the army's return. Daeron, I need the cavalry covering the edges of the hill, hidden at the forests edge." She set the wooden horses onto the map and placed the King's token back into the mountains "Our armies must be swift and silent." She placed archers along the crest of the southern peaks of the Bald Hill. "Those who bear the poison must be shadows on the stones" wooden wasp's were put into the crevices at the base of Dol Guldur. "Send the best messengers we have to paint those stones black with death at sunset. We will attack the survivors at just before dawn after the wasp's and vapors have been dropped into the great hall." She put the tokens of the apiarist onto the hill with the archers. "It will be a red day." Unede was quiet for a moment, and none dared speak "And Legolas, don't you dare let my body come to rest in the Golden Wood. You build the spring fires on my grave and shake my bones every summer with dancing." She flicked the black token of the necromancer over, and it clattered off the table.


	13. An Uncommon Courtship

Chapter 13: An Uncommon Courtship

Year 2063 The evening of the dinner at Unede's Aunt and Uncles House, a few weeks after the defeat of Dol Guldur

They walked together down the city streets that lay nestled in the ring of mountains that protected the woodland folk. The couple wove their way through the ancient trees under the bright light of the stars and the cobble stone path's glimmered as they traveled between the houses and garden's.

The smell of autumn filled the air, and leaves crunched beneath the feet giving away their movements to any ears that may be listening. Unede giggled and spun around, feeling the cool night air on her skin.

"Sing me a song." She whispered, taking the Prince's hand.

His voice took song in the night, and he watched her smile and she seemed to bring more light than the stars above them.

"_Eärendil__ was a mariner  
that tarried in __Arvernien__;  
he built a boat of timber felled  
in __Nimbrethil__ to journey in;  
her sails he wove of silver fair,  
of silver were her lanterns made,  
her prow was fashioned like a swan,  
and light upon her banners laid." _

He spun Unede around as her voice joined him for the second verse, and the giggled and sang their way down the stone path, and through the maze of trees that towered above them.

"Do you even know where I live." She laughed as he pulled her closer to him.

"I know where all my people live." He said kissing her hand "But alas, the wine has come to my head and so you must lead me to your home. I shall be glad to see it."

And so, she led him away down a narrow path through the gardens and just before the first hill of the mountains where the tree's gave way and the stone's lifted from the earth into the sky. There tucked into the last of the tree's was a cottage in the bow's ancient oak. She pulled down a rope ladder, and smiled as she watched Legolas carefully climb towards the porch of her home.

"Why have I not been here before, you have come to my chambers a thousand times" Legolas remarked as he offered Unede a hand.

"Planning for war and dinner with friends are quite different than finding ourselves alone in my house." She replied with a sly smile. "And anyway, were we not warry of gossip before?"

"Should we still be?" He responded looking up at the sky through the branches of above him as Unede climbed onto the porch.

She smiled at him and kissed his cheek in the dim light.

"Come inside." She whispered. "I will show you those painting's you desired to see so well." She turned the handle to her door and drew him closer.

"Do not stray from the topic at hand. I think a little gossip would do the realm good." He whispered to her in the darkness.

She walked across the dark room and struck a match. The smell of sulfur and wax wafted through the air, as she began lighting candles. The room was soon illuminated in a warm glow, and in the orange light he saw the many canvas's she had leaned against her wooden walls. A cup met his hand and he took it gratefully, and kissed Unede's forehead gently before she moved away to stoke the fire.

"You painted all of these?" He asked as she loaded a log onto the embers. He remembered how cold he was in the late fall air.

"Most of them." she replied as the crackles of the fire began. She rose to join him.

He watched her in the fire light and smiled at her tousled hair he was responsible for. "They are very good." They were quiet together, as he looked at her work and drank the wine and moved about the small room to see a side of her he never had. Brushes lay out to dry and paints of various colors were stacked on racks. Unstretched rolls of canvas were stuffed in baskets in the corner. He peeked into her kitchen and smelled the unmistakable scent of bread rising. "I feel as though there are parts of you I am blind to."

He felt Unede become afraid "Do you not like these parts?"

"I love them." He whispered seeing her fear and took her hands into his quickly. He led her to the hearth and guided her to sit on the cushions in front of the glowing fire. "I meant what I said a century ago, yet I have not the words for the conversation." He blushed and looked away from her.

"I shall start then." Unede said "I am terrified of what it would mean to live a court life, and wear dresses, and embroider, and have maids fuss with my hair." Legolas let out a hearty laugh.

"Is that what it is to be a Lady in Lorien?" He said taking a drink of wine.

"It was expected."

"I can hardly see you sewing a dress." He said grinning, but his smile faded as he saw a gloom descend upon her.

She sat quietly for a moment "I asked your father for dismissal as a Captain, and he offered me a seat on his Council. And now I feel that if I wed you that I will have betrayed Lothlorien for saying that I would not bear Nenya and rather taken a crown."

"You would be no more than a pawn for the Wizards, and the Lord Elrond." Legolas said "Galadriel should not have offered that burden to one so young as you. She had seen many millennia when she became the Lady of Light and bore a ring of power."

"I do not want power. I want safety for my people. I want to love you and not fear the burden of some title, or the repercussions it may have." She finished the wine in her goblet, and Legolas moved to refill it.

"Then do not fear it, you have faced far worse than trade papers and kitchen inventories." He snorted, but then solemn thought came to his lips. "Perhaps Galadriel meant to tempt you." Legolas drank from his own cup and then smiled mischievously at her "Perhaps your using those same tricks to tempt me."

"Perhaps." She said. She pulled away after a moment and gave him an odd look. "But a wise wizard said to me that I should at least be happy, for my suffering does not serve the court or unburden our people."

Legolas shrugged "What more could the other elven kingdoms take from Eryn Galen? We are an independent folk, what need have we for lembas bread, and velvets, and jewels. What aide can Rivendell offer that would ease the lives of our people."

"I think still though, that the way to the White Council is through family ties. Despite the advice of that old Istari." She paused for a moment and a change came over her. "Now tell me in sooth, and calm my fears, what will this courtship be like, what are the expectations and requirements."

"You are planning our courtship like a battle! What strategy is this to win my heart?" He laughed again and pulled her to his side to face the fire. She lay her head on his shoulder.

"You want to court me then?"

He smiled at her words, they seemed so foreign to his ears despite his heart aching for an age to hear them.

"And take me to dinners and dance the may pole with me?"

"And spin you around all the fires that evening and beg for your hand." He whispered and kissed her ear.

"Oh there will be begging."

"Well" he began after a moment. "I think I quite like the idea of stirring a bit of gossip before the spring fire festival. You will be announced at court, and of course we will dance the singles together. And you can sit next to me at dinner, instead of down the table with the other officers and I think you may come to like the gowns."

"I will like the way you look at me when I wear them." She muttered nuzzling his neck and nipping the skin gently in her teeth. "We can be caught kissing in the garden."

"Oh yes" he whispered. "and holding hands in the marketplace."

"Perhaps I am spied buying you a jewel." She snickered winding her hands across his chest in the dim firelight.

"Perhaps" he said. "Then we will be betrothed for a year starting in the spring." he ran his hands slowly along her sides and found the strings of her bodice loose and hanging. "and we will feast, and celebrate, and all of the realm will dance in the forest in the summer and fall." she leaned in closer to him.

"And then what?" she asked quietly.

"Then we will be wed under the stars, and I will make you mine, and you will wear a crown of golden leaves." He smiled at her as she undid the remaining clasps on his tunic. "And when you are called Her Highness you will have to sit across from me at feasts and meetings and share a bed with my snoring."

"You don't snore." she snickered.

"No, I don't my love."


	14. An Answer to Traitors

Chapter 14: An Answer to Traitors

The Summer of 2065

"Your Highness." The guard bowed as she walked past him and onto the terrace overlooking the rolling forests below.

A crown of golden leaves was set upon her brow, and from her shoulders flowed a heavy velvet sleeves that drug the ground and made her seem to fill the room. A fitted black bodice lay around her breast and the weighty fabric opened at her hips so she could walk freely. The room fell silent as she entered, and her boots fell with purposeful steps onto the stone floor. She came to stand next to the King who watched her intently as she looked over his council.

Finally, her eyes came to rest on Thranduil and she lifted her hand and flung a yellowed paper onto the table. The other's stood around her, waiting for her to be seated but she remained standing, looming over the King as his hand reached for the paper with the cracked seal of blue wax. He studied it intently, before looking at his son, who offered a single nod.

The King passed the letter to Daeron, who handed it to Celduin, and slowly the paper made its way around the table, and the elves began to murmur. Unede waited patiently for one of them to speak. Legolas shifted in his seat. Unede had always done this, she had a way of making the rooms air feel thicker with silence. It reminded him of his father, and he wondered if she learned the skill from him. The minutes ticked by and Thranduil drew deeply from his glass of wine.

Finally, unable to still his tongue any longer Daeron spoke harshly. "I assume her highness has some grand proposal, another war for our battle-weary troops to fight." Unede raised an eyebrow at his words, and he looked down as his cheeks flushed with red anger.

"Princess." Celduin began carefully. "You have spoken against this before, the House of Finarfin should have aided us in the fight against the necromancer."

"Against Sauron." Legolas said firmly and quietly.

"Against Sauron." Celduin said with a nod. "It would be unwise to send an army to Rivendell, we would be left weaker, open to attack. The war is over but the threat is not gone. Surely you know this."

Unede looked out over the green forests that stretched out far to the north. She saw the scar of the road slipping through the trees. Finally, she pulled out her chair, letting it scrape on the hard-stone floor. Daeron sneered at her and shielded his ear. She took the seat and then, at last, she spoke.

"I do not ask for an army. I do not want our guard to fight a war they have no business in. I want ten riders, and twenty of our fastest horses. I will ride with them to Rivendell, and I will bring the fire wasp's poison, and a colony for them to have. I will be back before the end of autumn." She said solemnly.

Quiet gathered again in the room, and the elves looked at one another as they pondered her proposal. But it was an unexpected voice that spoke next.

"Unede," Legolas whispered. "They did not come when you asked."

The King turned to Unede and watched her carefully, and the remembered the weeks before the siege where she walked silently through his halls and spoke nary a word. He had always wondered if she had called for aide and been denied, and now he knew it was so.

"We must gain the ear of the White Council." She said firmly.

"Unede," The Prince pleaded, staring down at his hands "You have no debt to them that needs repayment, you-" But the King held up his hand and the Price fell silent. Thranduil tapped his fingers on the table and drank again from his goblet.

"You led us through a great threat child." He began. "And she is right, we need the White Council to know what we have faced, to know the danger that still lingers in Middle Earth. Who better to tell them than the one who has aided in its banishment from my Kingdom."

"And how better to make them listen than with aide they would not offer themselves." Unede finished.

"This is foolish, what good can come of this errand?" Daeron said. "I counseled against their marriage, and I shall council against relations with Rivendell and Lothlorien. Elrond and Galadriel have only ever wanted what has benefited them- my horses. And for what, so our people could have ropes and honey. So the houses of Oropher and Finfarfin could unite and produce and heir for Eryn Galen? We have not ropes, nor honey, nor aide, nor heir."

"And soon you shall have no tongue." Legolas hissed, and Unede place a hand on her belly.

"I have that anger in my heart too Daeron, but what is good for Middle Earth, and Rivendell and Lothlorien is also good for Mirkwood. They must know that the danger is not done." Unede looked at Daeron and gripped the letter her cousin had written. Her mind wondered back to the conversation she had with Thranduil two winters ago, and she wondered if his heart had changed. But her answer came soon enough.

The King nodded solemnly and spoke "Take your ten guards, and your twenty horses, and as much of the poison as can be carried. Tell the Lord Elrond that Green Wood answers the call of those in need. Tell him Sauron gathers again. Tell him Saruman has a liars tongue. Then return before the winter comes." The King stood briskly and all the table with him, and then he strode off down the hall, and the guard at the door bowed, and offered a whispered 'your majesty'.


	15. A Quadrille for Couples

Thank you so much for reading A Golden Dawn. This is the start to a new and important thread that weaves this story together. I truly hope you have enjoyed it so far.

Please review

Late Summer of the year 900 of the Third Age

The stone room bustled with movement. Ladies in gilded gowns adjusted silver circlets on their heads, and Lords straightened their tunics and flattened their hair. The walls hummed with the energy of the excited elves as they looked forward to the feasting and dancing and fires of the summer celebration.

But in the corner Unede stood quietly leaning against a pillar in a fitted green gown. The folds fell across her feet and she muttered quietly and drew from her cup of wine. She watched the happy lords and ladies and remembered why she avoided these dinners. All chivalry and false complements between drawn out courses and a dozen dances. She liked the lively celebrations, and open air feasts of the mountain valley. Yet her friends happiness was worth a few boring hours in a bound bodice.

The curtains behind her fluttered and she watched the King walk past her and gave him a gentle nod. The others in the room bowed deeply before him, and she rolled her eyes at the show of courtesy. She did not need to look over her shoulder to know the Legolas stood behind her, avoiding the conversations his father took part in so eagerly.

"I heard a rumor you would be here. Have you come to save me from unwanted attentions?" He said quietly to her and moved to stand by her side.

"A favor to a friend." She shrugged.

"Ingwe said you are playing match maker tonight." He laughed. "A dangerous game." He elbowed her gently and smiled at a friend from across the room.

"The game I play keeps us in tarts for the rest of our long lives, and if I am left without a partner for the quadrille, you'll be stuck summoning stale biscuits for your midnight snack."

"That sounded like a threat." He said his eyes shone brightly in the candlelight.

"It was a threat." Unede giggled and took another drink.

"Alright then, dancing it is. But you have to sit next to me at dinner, I'll not find myself next to Celduin's daughter again."

"Say that again, and he shall send you north for your next watch, and your arrows shall sit silent in your quiver as you watch trade wagons for a season."

"A fair point my lady." He said. "I'll not risk my position in the third southern company."

"Well if you don't dance the quadrille with me then I'll have you sent to the second company, and then you'll have to answer to Olwe." She said giving him a sly smile.

"You were made marchwarden then?" He said excitedly.

"Only just this morning. Dare I say I finally out rank you?" She watched him straighten his tunic and look around the room that had slowly emptied as the lords and ladies were announced.

"Speaking of rank, your next to be announced." He said and nodded towards the staircase where a Paige awaited her. She sighed and walked slowly towards the carven arch and peaked through a crack in the curtains. The staircase slipped down into a grand ball room where a dozen long table's were set with a thousand cups and plates. All the court stood below her and excited whispers echoed through the mountain hall. Unede remembered her childhood, and her white silk gowns dancing at her feet when she had to walk down a thousand steps of a winding staircase in Lothlorien.

She back and gathered herself looked at Legolas and the King, and his majesty gave her a soft and encouraging smile, then gently waved his hand to shew her from the room. She frowned, gathered her courage, and slipped quietly between the curtains to face the kingdom she so valiantly protected.

Miriel spun and danced through the gardens as the company made their way out of the palace and towards the great fire down in the valley where the kingdom danced and feasted late into the evening.

"Where have the sisters gone?" Miriel said taking Unede's hand in a swirl of silk.

"Out to the forest with the younger elves, Curufin has friends with a fire there." Unede laughed and gave her cousins hand a squeeze as she led her down the path and onto the grass of the fields.

"Then out plan has worked" Miriel clapped "I must go and tell Ingwe!"

She darted off, and so Unede found herself alone walking towards the distant fire and listening to the singing of the elves and the crickets and the beating of drums that rattled into the warm summer night. The stars were alight under the new moon and the high peaks of their safe haven glittered against the sky. When she had come at last to the feast, she was given wine and bread and greeted her friends, and she sent them off to dance in happy rings around the blazing light.

What a merry bunch they are, she thought as the warmness of the wine filled her limbs and they danced and leaped and clapped, and loaded logs onto the edged of the embers. Then across the fire between the flames she saw Legolas laughing with his friends, and she watched them pair off into couples as the fiddles took up another song. He stood there alone drinking wine and swaying to the beat of the drum, and she remembered the words that the sisters had blushed out.

"_far better than spun silver and enchantments_." She thought, and there in the light of the fire and the stars she let her heart yearn freely and wondered what all the years of their love could be, and how his hand would feel in hers. She wondered what his hair looked like unkempt from a night of sleep, and what it would feel like to wake up next to him in a feather bed under warm sunlight to the smell of bread and tea. She let her lips yearn for his and felt her fea ache for his embrace, but then without warning the spell was broken and she tried to hide her surprise when she found her Uncle's hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you." he said to her quietly his green eyes twinkling in the fire. Unede watched him and tipped her head wondering what he could mean. "It was a kind thing you did for Miriel and the sisters. I dare say Amarie will find happiness before the night is ended."

"Curufin loves her dearly, but I would not let her know, lest it fray her nerves and still her tongue."

"Aye little one." He said "Somethings are better left unsaid. But this is not, I am so proud of you, and your father would be too. A marchwarden of Mirkwood, and dare I say a captainship is in your future."

"Maybe one day." She said smiling gently. Olwe followed her gaze across the glade and found that her eyes still rested on the Prince.

"He is a good man." Olwe nodded across the fire and raised his glass to Legolas. The Prince met his eye and gave him a smile. "It would be a good match."

"There are things now which bare more importance than love and marriage uncle." Unede said breaking her gaze and bringing her eyes to the ground.

"Perhaps just a dance then." He suggested gently and gave her a little push, and she looked up and saw that Legolas was grinning wildly and waving her over. "I think he is as drunk as Miriel."

"I have some catching up to do." Unede laughed and drained her cup. She smiled at her uncle and a blush came to her cheeks, and Olwe could not help but grin as his niece sauntered around the fire and took the Prince's hand to join the dance.


	16. A Healer in Their Midst

Chapter 15 A Healer in their Midst

The Summer of 2065

Unede winced and clinched her hands tightly together.

"Breathe were nearly through." The healer said quietly. She patted the blood from her shoulder and moved to place another stitch in her skin.

Legolas paced back and forth across the room, nervously fiddling with the papers in his hands and glancing up to at every turn to watch the progress of his mate's wound.

"You should have let the home guard deal with those orcs." Legolas sighed laying the papers down on his desk.

"With two dozen under guard in their ranks, they are hardly qualified. I was there for inspection anyway Ah! Elenwe, do we not have Kingsfoil to numb this damn wound while you sew it up."

Elenwe blushed "I used it on the others already. You are the one who asked to be last." The healer reminded her and Legolas rolled his eyes. Then suddenly the healers eyes were alight with an idea. "Anyway, your Highness, were you to let me ride with you to Rivendell, I could learn of new herbs, and bring them here. You should take me with you, you need a healer on the road."

"I hope they do not! Not if those horses are as fast as Daeron claims them to be." Legolas said.

Elenwe pushed her needle through the cut and tied another knot with the thin thread.

"You are a fine healer Elenwe, and it would be silly to risk you on the road. You saved me once already, your skill is proven." Unede said through her gritted teeth. 

"It is a risk to not bring me should harm come to you." Elenwe countered. "And fine is not good. I desire to be good." Unede sighed and the healer began to placed a bandage over her stitches, then buttoned the sleeves of Unede's tunic.

"Alight, good it is then." She sighed "I may need you for more than healing when this is done."

A fort night later the trample of twenty one horses came to a stop on the muddy Great East Road. They breathed heavily in the cool morning air, and muck covered their legs, and bellies. The wood elves looked around curiously wondering why they had come to a halt. Unede dismounted and slopped through the mud to the tree line. She lay her hands on the trees and breathed in the crisp morning air. Their trunks shivered under her fingers and a nervous breeze went through their limbs. The elves heard a whisper on the wind.

"This is where we turn off the road. We have rules now, strict ones, and I need you not to break them." The elves nodded and watched the trees intently. The branches seemed to bend inwards leading them into the forest. "Keep to yourselves, never go anywhere alone. Always have your bags packed, our priority is to return home. We may need to leave swiftly and with little notice. They have a fall feast nearing, so keep your wits about you, we do not need drunk silvan elves in these halls. Most importantly, remember that everywhere here has ears. I am your captain, only your captain, always your captain. Do you understand?" She finished, and the heads of her guard nodded. Unede pulled of a golden ring from her index finger and handed it to Elenwe. "Wear this, and don't lose it." Unede muttered and mounted her horse. Elenwe's face grew pale, and she slid the band onto her finger as Unede nudged her horse forward and past the trees.

For the next day and a half the company plodded through the trees, picking their way slowly down an unseen path through the dense forest, until finally as the sun had begun to sink their way turned downwards. Through a gap in the trees they saw it, great houses of carven wood deep in the valley surrounded by white waterfalls and protected by high cliffs. Soon their horses feet fell not on sloppy paths, but on a slim stone road that brought them ever closer to the Lord Elrond's House.

At the bottom of the path they reached a stone bridge, its edges unprotected, above a crevasse carved out by a flowing river far below. They urged their horses over it three by three, with Unede taking the lead on her mount. At last they came to the other side, and there at the top of the stairs stood the most unlikely of faces. His amber hair glittered in the sunset, and when his face turned to see the company he showed a broad smile and his green eyes lit up. He burst down the stairs in a swirl of silk robes and met Unede with a tight hug before her feet had found the ground.

"Rumil what on earth are you doing here!" Unede said as he clapped his hands on her shoulders.

"Bah, look at you! By the Valar how you have grown, your covered in mud and yet you glow! We have heard the stories, yes we have! A captain and advisor to the King just like your father, my my, don't tell your Uncle, of course, but oh we are so proud in Lorien- I can hardly-" Unede's lips tightened as the elf spoke, and her company shifted uneasily on their horses and placed hands on their swords.

Rumil turned around and saw above them an assembly of Rivendell warriors came down the stairs and began to fill the platform around them. Then finally he appeared at the top of the stairs, a dark-haired elf with a silver circlet on his brow, and a wave of blue velvet clad about his shoulders. He stepped silently down the staircase, and not a breath could be heard as he made his dissent, even the horses seemed to still in fear. At last he reached the others and strode towards Unede and Rumil with a look of dim annoyance.

"Niece." He said slowly.

"Uncle." She replied.

"How unexpected."

"Though not unwelcome I hope." Unede said as she looked around at the warriors that surrounded them. The horses under her own guard snorted and moved uneasily, their hooves clattered on the stone. The Mirkwood elves murmured quietly behind her in a harsh Sindarin tongue. "I expect though, that we may be a surprise to you. Let us, you and I, go and speak in private."

Elronds face hardened at her words, and behind him a call came, and the patter of steps down the stone stairs.

"Father." Elladan spoke between breaths. "I can explain." Elrond looked to his son and shook his head. The Lord raised his hand and his son quieted and watched the company before him.

"You have journeyed long. You will find food and rest in my house. The sun sets now, let us speak on the morrow." He paused for a moment and his warriors relaxed their stance. "Have you wounds or need for healing?"

"No." Unede shook her head.

"Come then." Their horses were taken, and the silvan elves were led up the stairs by the half-elven pair. "My aides will show you the baths and lay out clothes for you. We shall all have dinner in the great hall at dusk." He turned swiftly on his heal and marched up the stone steps towards his house in the evening light.


	17. A Creature Away

_Thank you for taking the time to read A Golden Dawn, in the next few chapters many of the threads of this story will come together and you will begin to see the greater picture. As promised there will be one more update this month- sorry for the delay I was on holiday. Please review/follow/fave. _

TA Year 10

She had snuck outside of Caras Galadhon, and if her legs took her fast enough, she knew she could make it to the river. So her little feet pattered hard in the misty morning light, and she prayed she would not be missed at morning lessons. All she had to do was get high enough in a tree, that was all, then she could look out over the forest.

Her feet splashed into the tinkling waters and she crossed them in delight and felt their spell of joy fall onto her. If she listened hard enough, she could almost hear the whispers of the forest river far in the north echoing down into the Nimrodel. She paused there for a moment and let the water rush over her feet. The wind rustled her hair and her limbs felt lighter in the refreshment offered by the stream.

But then she froze. Eyes were on her and she covered her mouth in surprise, and turned slowly, hoping it was not Rumil or her mother. 'Please' she prayed. And then she saw her, crowned in amber hair that fell around her waste, and wrapped in a white mantle. She was sitting at the edge of the river smiling at the little elleth before her.

'Well met child.' She said quietly in the silvan tongue. The elleth gave her a nervous look, and crinkled her nose. "I heard a child had come here from the northern realms; it must be you. Come and sit by me, let us speak here together in my river."

She took a hesitant step forward, and then a few more swift ones before coming to a swift sit on the green moss next to the Lady who shared her hair.

"I am Nimrodel." She said gently to the child next to her.

"You are King Amroths beloved." The child responded nervously in the same tongue.

"I am." She replied "But today I am just Nimrodel, and I am glad to be sitting here with my kin. For I have longed to speak with one who knows my tongue so well. I had heard a silent little wood elf was brought by Galadriel and her Daughter."

The girl before her giggled. "It is I." She said at last and then crossed her arms stubbornly. "My mother made me learn sindar, but I wont speak it. I am silvan." She said proudly and lifted her head a little.

The Lady laughed a silvery laugh and took the child's hand. "That you are my dear, but come now, do not be so stubborn, tell me, why will you not speak your mothers tongue. What has brought you to Lothlorien. But first tell me your name."

"I am called Itarilde. Are you the river lady?" The child looked up at the one before her.

"I am." She said again and smiled at the girl before her.

"I came here because the river bears tidings from the northern trees of Eryn Galen, and I miss them."

"I know you must, but are you not of this Kingdom?" Nimrodel asked knowing the answer already.

"No." She shook her golden curls stubbornly. "I hail from Eryn Galen. My father advised the King and was a captain." She said proudly.

"How did you come to be child of Laurebrian?"

She shrugged and yawned, bored by the ladies questions. "Grandmother and Grandfather traveled there to meet the King, and so I was begotten."

Nimrodel smiled at the girl and sensed her quiet natured and decided not to press. And so they listened to the singing waters for a while, until at last the child spoke again.

"My mother left after my father was slain. She took me to Rivendell, but we have come here for a while. They are troublesome there you know, the Noldor I mean. They are always toiling, in one way or another, and there are not nearly enough trees." She humphed and crossed her arms and splashed her feet in the water.

"No, not nearly enough."

"Grandmother thought I might be happier here with the other wood elves in Lothlorien." The child muttered.

"And are you happier." Nimrodel asked placing a hand on the child's back.

"I'll be happy when I can go home."

Nimrodel laughed at her words and lit the forest with her smile. "Aye, home is where you are meant to be. I am sad that a creature so fair as you has been taken away from the place that she loves."

The child leaned on Nimrodel and held her hand a little tighter in her grasp. They were quiet then for a while longer and Itarilde relished the calming nature of the wood elf beside her and for a little while at least she felt less home sick.

Then at last when they had sat for a while together and were refreshed Nimrodel took both of the elleths hands and looked at her gently and said "Do not lose hope little one, for when you come of age and reach your second cycle, then you can go home, and until then we can meet together and be friends and bring glad tidings to each other. Until then you are a creature away. And so that is what I will call you, Unede."

"I like the name, Unede. But Nimrodel please will you ask King Amroth to send me home. Surely he has the power to command my mother, then I can bear a sword and shield and fight for the mighty King Thranduil as my father did for Oropher!" Unede said excitedly.

"I can put in a good word" She winked "But heed my warning and be patient, your second cycle will come soon enough." The lady said gently and rubber the elleths back, but her tears welled uncomforted and she longed for home, and Nimrodel's heart softened. "How about though, in the meantime, we can become friends you and I. And I can ask Rumil to teach you how to wield a sword and you can tell me stories of the great green forest in the north. What say you?" And at her words the child smiled and rose to her feet excitedly.

"Verily you have made my heart glad Nimrodel! And one day I will be mighty Captain Unede and I will do deeds that they sing of in songs and advise the King just like my father."


	18. A Battle After An Admission

_Authors Note: Thank you for taking the time to read my story! As you journey ahead, please keep in mind, this piece is purposefully written and published out of order. Things that may seem fluffy, confusing, or seem to be out of place, come around eventually, and by the end everything will make sense and weave together in a cohesive and exciting thread. Save for a few edits, this piece is mostly complete, and additional cut chapters, or our good old Legomance chapters can be found published under one shots on my profile. I think they are nice adjuncts to the story that don't have a place in the main part, but flesh out the characters and story better and many more will come. If there is enough demand I may eventually post an 'in-order' version of this fic, but only after this one is complete. A Golden Dawn will be updated twice a month, so please follow/favorite to get the updates :)_

The Year 1900 The Evening of their first kiss. An Orcish army is below them

Far below the treetops, in the depth of the dark evening, the rattle of rusty armor echoed into the night. The grunts and heavy breathing of thousands of orcs cracked through still air, and the thunder of their heavy feet ripped the roots of the old trees.

The elves felt the anxiety of the forest ripple through its ancient limbs and it made the army uneasy. Unede worried that their fear would get the better of them as she led her troops forward silently between the trunks. They were moving swiftly southward, with the aim of getting to the ground in front of the orcs. The Cavalry was far north of them, and on the Talans above them the archers set in the shadows with readied bows. Unede knew the battle had already been won. They need only slay the orc's and head north back to the mountains at dawn.

Finally, the sounds of the orc's faded in the distance, and Unede came to pause. She heard a rustle of leaves and beside her four wardens appeared bathed in the starlight that filtered through the leaves.

'Duilin, and Enel you will take your warriors in and lead them to the right and left of me, Nellas, take two hundred to the south, and Penlod you will head to the north. Daeron will lead the cavalry from the north and drive the enemy towards us. Legolas' will have his archers in the tree's to kill them from above. I need each of you to place two dozen of your troops in the tree's to pull us up with ropes if need be. There is no place for bravery here, do you understand? Flee if you must, whistle if you need a rope to lift you out of the battle." Her warden's nodded and moved to the find their warriors and lead them to the ground.

Unede climbed down the trunk, and watched the warriors begin choosing spots in the brush and behind trunks and stumps. Soon the forest was dark and silent. She looked for Duilin, her youngest warden, and he nodded an affirmation as he finished positioning himself and checking his men. Even in the dark she saw sweat beading on his brown and fear hidden in his eyes, he would do well if his youth did not betray him, but what he lacked in patience he made up for in vigor. To her left Enel was doing final check's. Enel was seasoned, and his men positioned well, he had always run a tight battalion, and she needed him close to cover Duilin, insurance of sorts.

Finally, she took her place behind a twisted trunk, and waited. Minutes passed and the stars turned silently overhead. In the distance she heard the hoot of an owl and the heavy footsteps of the black army. Without warning a thousand arrows sang through the air and met their marks with heavy thuds. The rain of arrows did not stop, and she watched to bodies fall on the ground. She looked around at her Warden's and held off the signal to attack until the orc's were closer.

Miles away the thundering of hooves began, and the panicked shouts of orcs filled the air. The army fled southward, and the lines began to spill forward closer the archers and press together into a swarming stinking mob. They fell onto each other as the arrows sank into the skin, and black curdling cries filled the night, but still Unede held back her wardens.

Suddenly burst of orc's came to the right and Unede saw Duilin rush forward into the haze of battle before she could stop him. She called to Enel, and he ordered his warriors forward towards the hoard, and the pincers Unede had created encircled the orc army. Her blade met a ragged sword in the air, and she sank her dagger into the stomach of a beast and moved onto the next. As her silver sword slipped through the thickened flesh of the orc's she cursed Duilin for sending his men into the fray earlier than she would have liked. The cavalry should have driven the orcs forward more, the archers should have spent more arrows in the writhing mass. Instead her battalions would have to drive through the hoard, and the archers would move further northward to catch the oncoming legions as the horses drove them southward leaving her warriors more vulnerable than she had planned.

"Enel push forward, tighten the group, tell Nellas to drive them inward." She screamed to her warden when she saw him near. She pulled her dagger from the neck of an orc and moved onto to another. She danced through the corpses and her blades sang through skin and blood, and she made her way closer to Duilin who fought with a single long blade and a golden shield.

Duilin cried out as a beast fell from his sword, and he blocked the blow of another. Unede sent a dagger into its skull, and met the elf's eyes. "Forward" She screamed, plunging into the battle, and she heard his battalion yell behind her and press onward into the mass.

This was battle, true battle, black, and bloody, and wreaking of death. Around her twitching corpses, and stinking guts spilled onto the forest floor. Yet, it seemed no matter how many she felled, they came still. She heard the screaming of horses in the distance, and knew the cavalry must be nearer, they were making progress.

As the sun slipped up she called to her wardens and drove the remaining orc's tighter together. Fewer arrows now came from the trees, and the orc's archer's had sent many rusty crooked arrows into the branches. The elven archers had to have shifted positions, and she cursed for the elves on the ground did not have protection from above until the archers were safely settled in new limbs.

A cry came forward, and Unede watched the Cavalry spill through the legions of orc's. Swift elven blades cut down the creatures around her, and she breathed a sigh of relief and joined the mounted elves in the fray.

The hoard began to thin as the peak of dawn crested over the forest. Once again elven arrows rained down upon them from the east. The battle was nearly won. And for a moment Unede breathed a sigh of relief. But suddenly the tree's around her trembled in warning, and behind her Enel and Nellas let out a cry of retreat, and the Cavalry drove forward across the grass and into the forest.

"Rope's" the cry echoed across the battlefield, and Unede turned to see the elves slipping their feet in loops of rope and gliding into the bows. Around her elve's close to trunks' felled their enemies quickly and then climbed into the branches above them. And in the distance she heard the harsh horn of her enemies. She scanned her surroundings and slit the throat of on oncoming orc, and as his blood spilled out onto her boots she found herself in a glen, a hundred yards from tree's with the trample of black steps coming behind her.

She cursed and cut down another and realized in her worry for Duilin she had followed him into an open space, and the old words came to her. A glen is a grave. In the distance she watched Nellas hoist her battalion into the branches and climb up after the last one was safe. Unede knew she had to buy time for the remaining warriors on the edge of the glen to make it to the tree line. Nellas's would send down more ropes and would bring as many to safety as she could. She raised her sword and charged another enemy. Lost in the heat of the battle and clashing of swords Unede barely heard the call of Enel high from the treetops.

"Run! Run, now!" He cried, and Unede's leg's carried her before she could think. Across the glen a rope dangled from the branches. She ran as fast as her feet would carrier her, and beside her she saw Duilin cut down a foe and meet her in the sprint. They fled together towards the tree line, and without warning an arrow whipped past her head, and behind her an orc fell hard to the ground. They were close to the rope now, only a little further, but before it was in arm's reach the zing of an orcish dagger filled her ear's and sank squarely in Duilins chest. He fell, dead before he met the leaves, and Unede was hoisted into the treetops to safety.

The sun had risen and the morning light cut through the branch's of the tree's. The elves' milled silently about, cleaning their weapons, and washing blood from their hand's and clothes.

* * *

Unede sat silently with her head in her hands as a healer undid the buttons down her back and clean the cut on her shoulder. She had not spoken since Duilin fell that morning, and Enel sat vigil over his body that lay next to them on the talan. The shroud of green and brown covered him and his warriors lay birch leaves upon him and whispered blessings for his soul. But Unede could not bring herself to say the blessing's that day.

Legolas joined them silently and lay a leaf on the body of his comrade then found his place silently near Unede. He met Enels eyes and found in them a heavy gloom. The Prince's heart sank at the loss of the warden and he felt the pain his death had caused his beloved.

A bluster of movement broke the silence as the cavalry arrived. Below them the whinnies of horses and unsteady footsteps shook the solemn spirits and made the birch leaves shiver on the shroud. Daeron climbed up the rope ladder and clumsily pulled himself onto the boards in haste. In his desperation he crawled across the wood and pulled the body of the warden into his arms. A great moan came from his throat filling the quiet air around them, and tears poured from his eyes in rivers, staining the shroud a deeper green. He pulled the shroud from the face of Duilin and brushed his hands cross his cheeks and forehead, wiping away the hair that stuck to the clammy skin.

"No." He moaned pressing his face to the body. "Not my son." He cried and rocked the body of Duilin desperately back and forth. Legolas watched the Captain beg for his son back and pray in a cracked voice to the Gods for the life of the boy. Silent tears stained Unede's cheeks, as she sat unmoving and watching the scene before her.

In a sudden fury Daeron turned to her "This is your fault, you should have protected him." He spat at the Captain. "You're his Captain, you're the last to go into the tree's, he should have gone first."

"She was the last" Nellas said quietly. "I pulled her up myself." But Daeron shook his head and gripped his son tighter to his chest. The Captain let out another cry and, in his grief, trembled with anger.

"I saw it." He gritted through his teeth. "Don't you think I saw it. I saw the whole thing."

Unede lifted her head from her hand's and waved the healer away from her wound. She had seen Duilin fall from an orcish blade, she had been the last to rise to the treetops.

"I saw you choose to kill the orc pursuing her, instead of the orc that killed my son." He whispered through tight lips as he wiped the debris from his son and gripped the warden's cold hands. After a moment Daeron lifted his head and met Enel's dark eyes. "That girl who calls herself captain should be dead. You chose to let my son be slain Enel. We have protocol's in this arm-."

But Enel cut him off "And I have orders." He said shortly. He grabbed Daeron's Collar and shook him. "I have orders and you knew that when your son became a warden under her." He whispered harshly into Daeron's ear.

Unede's eye's widened. She hadn't given orders, Captain's were the last to rise, and often that meant they died on the battlefield as the company fled under their protection.

"Take his body on your horse and leave us, go to your mate and give him a proper burial. He died honorably, and that's all you will say." Enel let him go. And moved back towards the edge of the talan.

Daeron moved shakily to his feet and steadied himself on the trunk of the tree. "You are a mere warden, I am a Captain, and you dare give me orders."

"His words are above us all and you know that." Nellas said calmly and stepped quietly between the two ellons.

Daeron shook his head silently and spat onto the floor. "A curse on the house of Finarfin. I knew you were no good when you came here, and now you've killed my son." And he left as unsteadily as he came.


	19. A Sweet in the Evening

This Chapter was such fun to wright! Finally we are introduced to those mysterious sisters from a few chapters ago, and soon their meaning will be made clear! Please Review/Follow/Fav 3

_Authors Note: Thank you for taking the time to read my story! As you journey ahead, please keep in mind, this piece is purposefully written and published out of order. Things that may seem fluffy, confusing, or seem to be out of place, come around eventually, and by the end everything will make sense and weave together in a cohesive and exciting piece. Save for a few edits, this piece is mostly complete, and additional cut chapters, or our good old Legomance chapters can be found published under one shots on my profile. I think they are nice adjuncts to the story that don't have a place in the main part, but flesh out the characters and story better and many more will come. If there is enough demand I may eventually post an 'in-order' version of this fic, but only after this one is complete. A Golden Dawn will be updated twice a month, so please follow/favorite to get the updates :)_

Year 900 of the Third Age Spring

Unede padded down the dim stone hallway that wound its way through the mountain. In the flickering light of the torches the hallway came to an abrupt turn, and she jumped down the last three steps and found herself in a warm room filled with the smell of fresh baked bread and sweet jams.

She tiptoed towards the back of the room where heavy curtains hung in front of the pantries that she knew were stocked with the pastries that were to be served in the court only a few hours from now. It had taken her many years to get the timing of this venture just right. Come too early in the night and the cooks would still be pulling the breads from the oven, to early in the morning and they would be placing the treats on serving platters for the dining hall- either way she would be shewed off and would have to walk down the long hallway laden with only a heavy heart and an empty stomach. This long-developed strategy was how she found herself in the kitchen pantries so late into the summer night.

She reached the back of the room and grinned, her strategy had been perfect, her timing impeccable, the kitchens and all the cherry tarts she could eat were hers to enjoy. She flung the curtain back, to take in the smell of berries and bread, but instead found herself staring at the wide eyes of the Prince. A tart was shoved halfway into his mouth, and three more balanced precariously on his hand. One fell with a slap to the cold stone floor, and he stood frozen in surprise.

"I have spent the better part of a decade sneaking into this kitchen, and you can get these tarts any time you want, do not ruin this for me." She hissed and snatched the two remaining starts from his hand as he chewed the bite he had already taken.

"I cannot, they hold me to standards!" Legolas whined and pulled the tray from the shelf and brought it to the table in the main room. "You behave as though a crown gets me unlimited treats, yet alas, I am as tartless as a cobbler."

"What point is there to a crown if you are left tartless well past midnight." Unede said meeting him at the table with napkins and taking a seat across from him.

"My point exactly" Legolas laughed taking another bite. For a few minutes all that was heard was the crunching and crisp bread, and rustle of napkins as they enjoyed their secret pastries.

"Truly though, these kitchens are nearly impossible, Lothlorien was easy, all the ovens were below the Talan's, and there was no challenge to it. I could watch the bakers leave in the evening, and then help myself."

"If that is so, then surely they saw a little elleth gobbling up all the breads." Legolas quipped taking a blueberry tart this time.

"What is the point of having a title if I am a tartless child?" she shrugged and watched him eating the treat.

"What was it like in the Golden Wood?"

"Oh dreadfully boring. All sewing, and harps, and hair braiding. Quiet songs, and whispered feasts. Narry an adventure in sight." She sounded almost disgusted.

"It sounds very peaceful. But your spirit is not afraid, I think Eryn Galen suits you better."

"You speak the truth but ask me again in a thousand years and perhaps I'll yearn for quiet and quilting." She shrugged. "What is it like to be the Prince of these halls?" she asked as she rose from the table and stepped towards the oven. She placed another log onto the fire and checked the kettle for water.

"It is not so bad" he said and stretched his arms above his head. "When I was younger there were tutors, and now that I am older there is training. I represent my father in matters of trade or sit with his council to observe. It is not a terrible burden, except when it come's to the feasts, for though I love to dance, it is quite hard to enjoy two dozen dances with two dozen ladies all batting their eye lashes and bearing their bosoms." He rolled his eyes and chose a chocolate drizzled delicacy from the plater in front of him. He stuffed it in his mouth and spoke between bites "I can imagine your bringing up was easier though, being that you are the grandchild."

"Alas, not so much, fraught with travel and family disputes." The kettle whistled and she poured the steaming water into the pot and brought the tray of cups and sugar to the table. "I find this culture suits me better, and so I am here in these halls." She took a bite of a cherry tart and sighed. "But I will have you know; the lack of good honey here does not rest on my shoulders." She pointed at the Prince who blushed.

"We need the horses." He said defensively "what was I to do?"

"Breed more horses!" Unede laughed.

Legolas reached across the table and lifted to tea pot. He poured the amber liquid into their cups, and placed the saucer on the table in front of Unede.

"I heard a rumor that you will be made a marchwarden." He whispered as he watched her from behind his cup.

"A great honor if it is so, but I am not sure your father would trust me with such responsibilities."

"If he does not then he is a fool." Legolas said with certainty and placed his cup back onto the saucer with a dull click, then lay a hand on hers. "Truly Unede, you are the most honorable elf I know. How many meals have you missed to help train those less skilled than you?"

"I betrayed my family to bear a sword for the elven King. I am the last one worthy of your praise. My heart is full of revenge, and anger-" she started

"and kindness, and bravery and loyalty" Legolas interrupted. "The blood of your father runs heavy in your veins, these are your people too, and you risk your life every day to protect them. All the while the Noldor sing and feast and sew and have magical rings to guard them at night. I count my Kingdom lucky- for you are far better than spun silver and enchantments."

Unede blushed at his words and gripped his hand a little tighter.

"I don't think I could bear such a great burden as Nenya." She said as her cheeks flushed. "You handle a crown with grace, I envy it."

"Do you want to know the secret to my success, shall I tell you, Prince to Lady?" she nodded at his words. "I do the duty to my country out of honor and need, but I rest easy knowing I shall never be King. My Adar is far too stubborn to die."

"Well you take after him." Unede said with a smile.

"How do you mean?" He asked grinning.

"Your far too stubborn to trade one good horse for a barrel of Celebrant Honey."

"What is it with your family and this damned honey." He said and threw his hands in the air.

"It is the best honey, the whole kingdom knows it." She replied flatly. "We all blame you for the sour honeyed wine, and bitter honey dressings."

"Why do I feel as though you are a bird sent to sing into my ear." He asked and poured another cup of tea.

"Because you and I are the only ones who dare speak the truth to each other." She said honestly.

"I hope it is always so." He said bashfully.

Quiet settled between them again, and they finished the platter and wiped their hands clean of sticky fruit. Just as they rose from their places at the table, two snickering young elleths emerged from the doorway which lead to the front of the kitchens and stopped suddenly when they caught sight of the pair before them. They bowed swiftly, before bursting into giggles, and shoving each other back through the doorway in a fit of laughter.

Unede pursed her lips and shot Legolas a dark look. "There, now you have done it. Were both doomed to be tired and tartless elves until you are so old that you have a beard."

"Well I hope we are together long enough for you to see me grow one."

"If I am you should know now, you will never hear the end of this." She said with a wink.

"I expect not." he replied and placed a hand on her back and guided her out of the rear hallway she had entered through.


	20. An Arrival of A Child

_Authors Note: Thank you for taking the time to read my story! As you journey ahead, please keep in mind, this piece is purposefully written and published out of order. Things that may seem fluffy, confusing, or seem to be out of place, come around eventually, and by chapter 39/40 everything will make sense and weave together in a cohesive and exciting thread. Save for a few edits, this piece is mostly complete, and additional cut chapters, or our good old Legomance chapters can be found published under one shots on my profile. I think they are nice adjuncts to the story that don't have a place in the main part, but flesh out the characters and story better. If there is enough demand I may eventually post an 'in-order' version of this fic, but only after this one is complete. A Golden Dawn will be updated twice a month, so please follow/favorite to get the updates :)_

Year 103 TA

Unede stood in the shadow of the tree's on the edge of the road and shifted her weight back and forth on her feet. An uneasy feeling washed over her and she gripped the trunk of a tree to steady herself. Her legs were weary and her shoulder ached from the pack on her back, and she smelled four hundred miles of sweat wafting from her cotton clothes.

It had been more than a century since she had last looked upon the marble gates that were carved into the stone arches. A smooth stone bridge lifted from the forest floor and cascaded into the walls meeting ancient pillars shaped like twisted trees. A river crashed and bubbled below the stones, and she remember the sparkling streams and slender bridges she had seen with her mother in Rivendell as a child.

She twisted her hands and looked up that the lofty towers of the mountain halls that lay in the peaks far beyond. Behind the gaits she knew the wide markets sprawled in the fields, and past this cottages dotted the forest floor until the city spiraled upwards in three great twists deep into the mountain side. She recalled racing through the city to the highest tower in her youth and smiled, her father had always let her win.

Across the bridge a half dozen guards leaned on their lances. They chattered and tittered quietly between themselves and passed around half loaf of bread. The soldiers watched her casually but saw no threat in the unkempt travel weary elleth who had walked alone through the greenwood.

Unede wondered if she would be captured and thrown in the dungeons, but surely if they hadn't imprisoned her yet, it was unlikely they would do so when she approached. Tentatively, she took a step forward onto the bridge, already feeling exposed without the protection of the trees. Her stomach turned sour with another step, and she desperately wished to be high in the branches of an oak again.

The guards haphazardly readied themselves as she came closer, and took their places in front of the stone doors.

"That'll be close enough, state your business." A dark haired ellon said holding up a hand and blocking her way forward with his lance.

"I uh…" her tongue stilled in her mouth and she shifted uneasily again.

"What's a Noldo like you doing in these parts." Another said briskly as he set his hand on the blade that sat at his hips.

"I'm Silvan." She stumbled over her words. "I..I live here."

"Not with that hair you aren't." The guard laughed.

"Oh aye, there's Vanyar blood in this one." Another said.

"I've never seen her here. Her home isn't in these halls." The first one spat

"What's your name child." Another said from behind the pillar. He looked up from the dagger he was sharpening and met her blue eyes with his hard brown ones.

"Oh, Celduin send her away, that's a Lothlorien knife on her belt. Call for some bread from the kitchens, and put her back on the road to the Goldenwood where she belongs."

"Hush Daeron. Speak your name child or I shall do as this one says." Celduin said to her.

Unede bit her lip and shook off her fear. She hadn't come all this way just to be sent back southward.

"Gelmiriel." She said quickly. "My father called me Itarilde. He-"

"There are a dozen Gelmir's in these hall's and none of them have a daughter called Itarilde." Daeron snapped. "I'll send for the bread."

"Hush, horseman, this is why we keep you in the stables." Celduin waved him off and approached Unede slowly. He looked her up and down and offered a gentle smile. "Open the gates. I'll take her to the King, and we will see what he has to say about this business."

The other's gave little protest but rolled their eyes and did as the captain had ordered. The gate's opened slowly, and the grinding of stone against stone filled the air around them making the tree's shudder. Unede stood unmoving and watched as the Captain waved his men back into position, and then guided her gently forward through the dark arch towards the King's halls.

They walked silently through gates and down a slick stone path carved with a thousand thousand leaves, and Unede gulped at the memory of her father galloping his horse down the echoing stones for the last time. A shudder of sadness ran through her, and she wiped a tear from her cheek.

"No need to cry little one, they aren't as bad as they seem." Celduin said offering her a handkerchief. The smiled meekly at him and dried her face. They had stopped near the end of road before a second set of gates, and Unede knew soon it would open wide to reveal a meadow hidden in behind the walls and bustling with elves under the summer sun. She didn't want to be remembered as the crying child, and she appreciated the Captain sparing her of that mark.

"The last time I saw my father he rode down this road towards his doom." She said quietly and handed the cloth back to Celduin.

"So many of us did." He was quiet for a moment, and then ordered the second gates to be open in a series of nocks. They rumbled apart, and sunlight poured onto their faces.

A few hopeful elves gazed upon the doors, looking for their family to come home from scouting, or a hunt. But soon Unede, and Celduin were forgotten and they disappeared onto the streets, and wound their way down the grassy field past the markets, and over the thin valley rivers. Unede watched the ladies playing with the foals, and the laughing children rolling in the sun. She remembered when her own father had taught her to ride in this field, and how her mother anointed her with a crown of summer flowers.

"I knew Gelmir." Captain Celduin spoke breaking her train of thought. "I trained with him. Those guards at the gate are too young to remember. Half our army is as green as the spring." He cursed and led her up the streets towards high marble halls of the wood elves.

"I can't promise you that the King will let you in though. Do you have any family here I can call on to vouch for you?"

"My Uncle Olwe, and his wife my Aunt Indis."

"Hum" Celduin grunted. "I sent him on southern patrol a month ago. I will call him back though." He was quiet for a moment. They turned and walked out of the sunlight and into an open hall that twisted its way into the mountain. "The bow master, I think he knew Gelmir, he can vouch for you too. I shall call him up as well."

"Vouch, what do you mean vouch. Is there a test of loyalty to come home."

"There is when you are the grandchild of Galadriel. The Noldor are not our allies any longer child."

"But I know Thranduil."

"You knew him, but our King isn't the same anymore. Not after the battle."

Unede nodded and silently they entered the doors of the castle. She looked up at the sun filled entrance hall. Green vines twisted along the marble pillars, and flowers bloomed along the windows. She remembered the gardens to her left and right and heard the laughter of children and whispering of happy trees. But she was soon rushed up the stairs to the higher halls, deeper into the bowels of the mountain. Together they walked through the twisting corridors until finally they came to stand before the study of the King. She looked at herself and wondered if she should have asked to change into the dress she had brought. But Celduin had already called for them to be announced, and before she could gather herself the wooden doors cracked open and she was pushed into the study of King Thranduil.

It was the first time she had ever seen him as the King. He stood at his desk in robes of crimson velvet and wore the branching crown of Oropher as if it were a burden upon his brow. She saw too though, the flowers from the entry hall dotting his hair, and smiled, he had continued the tradition. Perhaps his heart was softer than the Captain let on.

"Hum, Gelmiriel. Little Itarilde, my you have grown." He whispered as he looked her over, and set down his quill. "What message do you carry to me little one. What my cousin, King Amroth, trust to a child."

"I carry no message." She said. "I came to serve you, as my father served your father. I came home."

The King looked at her and shook his head "You have come home hmm. You have had most of your year's in Lothlorien if I count correctly. We don't trust your kind here. Go back to the Galadriel, I do not let children in our army."

"That's not what I saw at the gates." Unede spoke without thinking. The King looked at her harshly but did not respond to her cutting words.

"Her Uncle Olwe, one of my wardens can vouch for her. As can the bow master." Celduin spoke up stepping forward to meet the King. "We both knew Gelmir-"

"We knew him, but we owe his memory no favors, save for courtesy." The King replied solemnly. "Send her to a guest chamber, feed her and bath her, and set a guard on her. When I have spoken with those who support her entry into my Kingdom, then we will decide if she will stay or go."

Celduin reached for Unede's arm but she ripped it away from his grasp and cast her harsh eyes on the King.

"You knew me too!" She said desperately. "And you knew a child who loves this forest, and you let my mother rip me away from it. I returned when I was allowed with my second cycle. I am not a child anymore, and I mean to serve you be it in the dungeons or the trees."

The King observed her carefully, and saw the desperation that filled her eyes. The forest had sung for her when she entered his Kingdom, the leaves of the trees around her shook with excitement and the waters glittered when she crossed them. He had felt her arrival before she had made it a league down the paths of the old road. The forest loved its young friend, but he would not trust her for the tree's. Not when Rivendell had become silent to their letters, and Lothlorien had sent away their offering of trade. Not when an heir of Finarfin had shown up unannounced in the hall of the King.

The elleth interrupted the King's thoughts again as she pulled her muddy bag from her shoulders and dug through the scant contents. "I need not anyone to vouch for me to prove my devotion to this Kingdom." She said sending the King an angry look. The Captain looked desperately to Thranduil for guidance but the King only tipped his head and watched her with curiosity.

"Behold," Itarilde said pulling from the bag an oiled cloth. She approached the Kings desk hotly and placed the bundle before him then lifted her chin. "A mighty gift from Yavanna, mine by rights, to bring glory to your Kingdom Your Majesty."

The King took the parcel delicately and knew already what its contents held, and he felt his limbs grow nervous. He knew three things then as he unwrapped the emerald stone that was bound on the breast of a silver eagle. The first was that Galadriel had been given this stone upon the coming of Mithrandir to Middle-Earth, for her to bare and give to whom she chose. The second was that it was rumored that she would no longer give to the stone to her eldest daughter Laurebrian, and instead would gift it to her younger child when she wed the Lord Elrond. And lastly he saw before him a child who was willing to sacrifice everything for the success of his Kingdom and the safety of its people, and that in her he would have an ally worth more than any sunlit stone.


	21. A Deal With A Duo

Spring of the year 900 T.A.

"My lady" The call came from far below her and Unede ignored the muffled giggles that rose from the ground and instead closed her eyes and breathed in the sweet spring air.

"My lady!" It came again and this time Unede peered down through the branches of her oak and recognized the faces of the kitchen maids from the night before. Perhaps if she ignored them they would relent and be on their way and she could continue to enjoy the bird song. "My lady we've brought tarts."

Unede sighed. That would do it. She looked down again and saw their faces beaming and hopeful with a basket raised above their heads in offering. Unede smiled and wondered what had brought them so far from the kitchens. Surely a thieving shieldmaiden would not draw them from the palace. Her curiosity got the better of her and she climbed down the bows of the oak to meet the ladies on the ground.

"Well met." She said eyeing them with a shy smile.

"Picnic with us!" One said skipping introductions as the other blushed and they burst into giggles again.

"I…" Unede started "Well, alright then. Should I fetch some ale, or-"

"No! We've everything!" They laughed and took her hand and led her to a blanket that lay in the shade.

"Sit down My Lady." She watched the elleth's suspiciously and then at last took a seat, and they followed suit swiftly and began unpacking the basket.

"I am Amarie" the first giggled "and this is my younger sister Anaire."

"I am Unede."

"Yes, we know." Anaire laughed offering her a tart. "we…" Amarie elbowed her.

"You caught me stealing pastries last night, yes." Unede prompted.

"Yes with his highness!" Anaire let the words burst from her lips, and the two sisters began giggling again and grasped for each other's hands as their faces turned as red as a raspberries.

"Look I am quite sorry about the tarts and the stealing and-"

"We always make extra my lady, just for you and his highness-" Anaire started.

"Yes, and we had always hoped you would meet down in the kitchens where its private." Amarie continued.

"Excuse me!" She said a little too loudly, taken aback by the fact that she had been watched and planned for without her own knowledge..

"Yes, we've watched you train together! Your far more skilled with the knife, you see." The older of the two said, but Anaire interrupted, seeing Unede's discomfort rise.

"But please do not think us always spying, for we went to watch Curufin train, my sister Amarie has quite the eye for him but her tongue has been to tied to get much further than introductions and pleasantries."

"Well there is always dancing." Unede prompted, trying to engage rather than be entirely rude. The sisters warm spirits loosed her tongue and she relaxed in their happiness.

"Yes! I thought so to." Amarie said.

"Save for you were silent the whole dance at the last fire circle! He knew better of your feelings before the dance I would say!" The younger sister teased. "So, I have concocted a better plan, but we need your help."

"Go on." Unede nodded, finding herself becoming more intrigued with the two before her.

"I need to snare a rabbit, well, I need you to teach me to snare a rabbit." Amarie blushed.

"I am not a hunter, perhaps an archer would be better suited."

"No we need you! You've been on patrol, you can snare a hare!" Anaire pleaded. "Teach her, oh please do, and then Amarie can finally make rabbit pies for Curufin and all will be well, and they can dance together at the may pole, and then announce their courtship a moon afterword's, and the world will be right!"

"Forgive me, what have pies to do with courtship?" Unede interrupted the giggling sisters.

"Oh come now Unede, you are in the guard you know the way of things!"

Unede smiled as she recalled the traditions.

"Curufin leaves under your watch in two weeks time! Amarie the brave shall slay a rabbit and will bake his favorite pies. Then she will bestow them to her warrior upon his departure. And _he_ will have to share them with all the guard else they will go bad."

"And everyone will ask where they came from because they are so good." Unede finished.

"Exactly!" The sisters said together collapsing into laughter.

"Oh and then he shall think of Amarie day and night until his return! Oh it will be so romantic Unede! Nearly as romantic as his highness hoping you are with him until he is ancient and bearded." Anaire sang wistfully! Unede's jaw dropped in horror, but the sister's continued on.

"You are kind and brave and loyal and far better than spun silver and enchantments." They coo'd together before giving way to their giggles again. Unede's cheeks flushed a dark shade of pink and she stammered over her words.

"I am not sure this idea is-" she began but Amarie interrupted.

"Oh please, please help me, we can strike a deal, please say yes!"

Unede watched them with the same scrutiny her own mother had given meddlesome elleths when she was a child.

"What would I get in return?"

"We will teach you to make tarts!" Amarie said desperately.

"I thought you said you make extra already."

"Yes, but you can't give the one's we made to Legolas, you have to make them yourself! Then he shall swoon and pine and-"

"I don't want to give Legolas tarts so that he will swoon and pine-"

"Of course you don't you already have his heart" Anaire said dismissively "but oh he shall think of you day and night and make you his princess if you do!"

"NO!" Unede said a bit to loudly, and the sisters quieted and pouted and held each other's hands under the shadow of the trees.

"Forgive me, I have spoken to swiftly." Unede continued. "I don't want his heart, or a crown, or romance. I want to eat tarts, and slay foul beasts, and bake bread with my aunt!"

"Bread!" Anaire squeaked excitedly! "Oh, bread we can bake with the best of them, sour doughs, and limbas, and cobs that last a whole fortnight!"

Unede's lips tightened and her fists clenched and she did her best to hide a smile at the thought of a warm slice of bread out in the southern forest.

"Cob you said."

"Oh yes!" The took her hands and giggled and swooned and begged. Then at last Unede relented.

"That lasts a fortnight?" she muttered bitterly defeated, thinking already of the smell of wheat after subsisting off berries and porridge, and finding herself thinking of the light that would be in Legolas's eyes when she revealed to him a slice of bread on a cold evening.

"Oh yes!" they said together more excited, shaking Unede from her day dreams.

"Alight then, we have a deal." She stammered finding herself now defeated at the idea of warm bread after weeks in the wood. "Now, tell me more about Curufin, I won't have you out and wooing an ellon if he isn't worthy of your charms."


	22. An Uncle Unamused

The Fall of 2065

"I heard your epesse is Arinyaelen." Rumil said as they made their way towards Elrond's private chambers.

"Aye." Unede said with a small nod as she gazed out over the cliffs and observed the crashing water falls.

Rumil watched her as they walked together, Unede had become quieter, an air of distrust hung about her wherever she went. She was far from the care free youth he remembered in Lothlorien. A shadow of the free spirited and brave elleth he had once known tread beside him.

"What drew you from the Golden Wood." Unede questioned as they turned the corner and found Elrond awaited them at the head of a table.

"Bringing Arwen home to spend the cool seasons with her mother and father. An honor of my position." He pulled the chair out and Unede took a seat. Elenwe quickened her steps and came to stand nervously behind Unede's chair.

Lord Elrond watched his niece intently. She had not changed into the velvet robes and silver circlet his hand maids lay in her bed. Instead she sat in brown leather and green cottons embroidered with the leaf of Oropher.

"Were the clothes I left for you not to your taste niece." He said noting her slight and as he studied her appearance.

"I find comfort in familiarity Uncle." She responded. "Especially being so far from home."

"Home indeed," he sneered "you even speak with a silvan accent."

"She speaks with the tongue of her people." Elenwe muttered.

"Of course she does, you have even given her a silvan name: Morning Star." He spat "How fitting for a thief who fled from Lothlorien at dawn."

"Her-" Elenwe started but stopped when Unede stirred in her chair and sent her a dark look.

"Do you wish to learn from Lord Elrond or not." She spoke softly to the healer "I asked you to come here for your benefit and you will ruin your chance with your tongue."

Elenwe's fists tightened and she caught Rumils eyes who pleaded with her for silence.

The tension grew at the table for a moment and the Lord Elrond shifted in his seat.

"I thank you for the welcome Uncle, truly it was kind." Elrond nodded at her words and looked to his son.

"This is your doing then."

"Aye. I wrote to Unede and asked her to petition King Thranduil for aid." Elladan said solemnly. His head dipped down and he watched his father from behind his dark hair.

Elrond put his head into his hand and let out a deep sigh. "I never thought my own blood could be so foolish."

"Perhaps it is because you are only half-elven." Unede spat.

"Children, both of you, you know not what you speak of." Elronds words were poison on his tongue and Unede felt the tips of her ears burn with anger. "You bring to us a people who have harmed the house of Fingolfin under the guise of aid. Have I not taught you better?"

"Valar Father enlighten us instead of hiding behind your crypted history. Always you say to distrust the gloom of the east, yet never say you why. Unede is our kin, she has done great deeds. Let her help." Elladan pleaded.

Elrond shook his head and crossed his arms on his chest. "It is truth you want? Truth of how your father died? Truth of how Gil-Galad was slain? Truth of why Laurebrian sailed? Truth of how Lothlorien and Rivendell fought Angmar alone? Truth of how your cousin stole the gift of Yavanna from our family, and betrayed our name for wild wood elves. " He leaned towards his niece and watched her intently, but she did not break his gaze.

"I saw my father die at the hand of Sauron, and I took my rightful inheritance. I did what I could for my people." She snarled.

"You saw your father die yes, but you did not see that Oropher led his people into the battle before he was ordered to. You did not see him disregard the advice of Gelmir, and Gil-Gamesh, and I. Countless elves died from his negligence, and from his hubris. He was a fool who called himself King, and you are a fool to follow his son. They are responsible for the Dead Marshes, and the purgatory of a thousand thousand elves."

"M father laid down his life for his King, as was his duty. If King Thranduil is responsible for his fathers actions, than King Amroth should be held accountable as well, for did he not loose Nimrodel in the wild? And yet we sing his eulogy each spring, and mourn the loss of Nimrodel. King Turgon is responsible for the death of Huor, and Tuor for Idril, and Galadriel for all the slayings of our kin. And suddenly Uncle, even our halves of the family are at odds for deeds that none of us are responsible for!" She leaned towards her Uncle, aflame with anger. "Yet we children hold no grudges and offer only aide. Elladan thinks it is wise for family to help each other. So perhaps it is he, your Captain, who should be making the decisions about what his warriors require on the field of battle."

"Battle?" Elrond sneared. "What could you know of Battle- where were you a Captain of Mirkwood when Amroth and I fought the Witch King? Where were you when the Noldor and Silvan united to march with Gondor? Yet now you claim aide? Aide after treachery, and treason to your people!"

"You speak of treachery, and yet we alone fought a great evil in our wood, when you could have allowed our forest protection with the Elessar! My life has been spent leading an army at war, while you hide in a valley! How can we subdue Angmar when we can hardly survive ourselves? You fought a witch king, while I fought his Lord alone with a tired army."

Elrond sat silently with his arms crossed a grimace on his face. But Unede was not done speaking and said quietly "I warned the white council, and you did not heed my words. You may not trust His Majesty, but you should trust me, your kin, despite one action I made as a youth. And after all of that, after you banished me, after Galadriel named herself Lady of Lorien, I came to Imladris. I risked my position, my rank, and the respect of the people of Eryn Galen to aide you when at last we had found peace at home."

Unede stood briskly from the table, startling Elenwe, and the two walked across the stone platform that over looked the valley. But suddenly Unede stopped and turned.

"I will have my archers begin training yours with the poison tomorrow at dawn. They will spend a fortnight with your men, and our apiarists will teach yours how to keep the fire wasps so you may have a steady supply. We will leave before mid autumn." She said curtly to Lord Elrond.

But he spoke before she could leave.

"You will do no such thing, the snows will begin in a month and you will come to be trapped on that road. I'll not send elves to doom, and kin less so." Elrond snarled, his chair scraped across the stone floor and he strode off towards his quarters.

Elladan, much like his father, lay his head in his hands and let out a groan.

* * *

Three Weeks Later

_But Long ago he rode away._

_And where he dwelleth none can say._

_For into darkness fell his star_

_In Mordor where the shadows are._

Lindir ceased his song and around the room the harps stilled, and soft clapping was heard.

In the firelight Lindir began another soft hymn again and the elves of Rivendell swayed to his voice.

However, in the corner sat a dozen Silvan elves, clad in green, and drinking deeply from clay goblets. It seemed, as the evening wore on, and the songs grew sadder, that they drunk deeper, and became louder.

"I have had it with the soft songs Unede, we all thought this would be a feast." Mahtan muttered, shooting a look at Beleg and Elenwe. "This wine tastes of water, haven't they dorwinion?"

"If they had you would have found it in the kitchens by now Mahtan." Beleg slapped him on the back.

"Unede, you know these folk, when does the dancing come, and the fall fires?" Elenwe questioned meekly taking Unede's hand and giving her a pleading eye.

"There are not fires and there is no dancing." Unede said, drawing now from her own cup.

"No Dancing!" Mahtan said a little to loudly, drawing glances from around the room. The harpers stilled for a moment before picking up again. "How can anyone live in such a dreadfully boring place."

"Perhaps you could entertain us then." Lindir said from across the room. The elves quieted, and the fire crackled on the hearth.

Mahtan stood up unsteadily and finished his cup. He sat it down on the wooden table and muttered a little before he straightened his tunic and took careful steps towards the fire. "I will sing you a song." He said slyly. "And Beleg here can play the fiddle for us to dance by. Surely you have a fiddle." Lindir rolled his eyes, but a musician obliged and handed Beleg the stringed instrument. "There now, up you get Eryn Galen, let not this song go to waste."

His comrades begrudgingly stood and prepared to dance. Unede found her place, and the music began.

_Down the swift dark stream you go  
Back to lands you once did know!  
Leave the halls and caverns deep,  
Leave the northern mountains steep,  
Where the forest wide and dim  
Stoops in shadow grey and grim!  
Float beyond the world of trees  
Out into the whispering breeze,  
Past the rushes, past the reeds,  
Past the marsh's waving weeds,  
Through the mist that riseth white  
Up from mere and pool at night!_

And so the song continued, and another, and another, until finally, half drunk and out of breath Mahtan declared "I have a new song, for our new Lady."

The Rivendell elves looked at each other, finally finding the wild spirit of the dances and the fiddle and obliged him once more.

_To greener leaves she tarried, _

_Our lady strung with light._

_An old house name she carried,_

_And bore her sword with might._

_Though poor she was with arrow,_

_Her knives were keen and true._

_For a thousand years she fought the fear,_

_The evil we once knew. _

_Her limbs are long and solid,_

_She is made of oak and steel._

_And on the map she mark-ed,_

_The battles we would seal. _

_Our Lady found a poison,_

_To slay and fell the beasts,_

_And in the night she led us bright,_

_And now for her we feast._

_In Dol Guldur they battled,_

_Upon the balding hill,_

_His helmet did she rattle,_

_Then necromancer felled._

_At dawn he was defeated,_

_Our morning star was named._

_And in the watchful peace that came,_

_The Prince did choose a mate that day-_

Unede's eyes grew wide with fear and anger, as Rumil spun her around, he caught the look in her eyes, but before he could hush the silvan singer an unexpected voice rang out and stood before them with her hands in the air and singing loud and clear for everyone to hear.

"And Elenwe was her name!" she sang red faced and breathless.

A silence fell onto the room and Unede found her chest heavy, and felt she was unable to breath. Rumil squeezed her hand hard, bringing her back to him before others noticed. But they were safe, for all eyes were on the healer at the front of the room who wore a slim golden band on her index finger. Unede gathered herself and gripped Rumils arm to steady her stance.

"I think." The marchwarden said slowly "That perhaps now is the time we should retire and rest. There has been quiet enough fun and revelation for one evening."


	23. A Kings Orders

Hello readers, please forgive me for the delay. I shall up date twice as penance for your wait! 3 Thank you for the reviews, we have not officially passed the half way mark!

The Year 1900: Following the Death of Daerons Son

She had not spoken in all the day's that they had traveled. Following the battle in the southern woods, the company had journeyed northwards to the mountains at great haste, seeking to be with their kin once more. Now the army of elves marched down the stone tunnel towards the second set of gates that led to the heart of Thranduils Kingdom. The warriors were muddied, and bruised, and worse for wear than when they left their city, but they were met with joy as they came to the great hills at the base of the mountain halls. There were fierce embraces as they met their families, and little worry for the smell or the dirt that the troops carried with them. Wives cleaned faces of their husbands, and mothers kissed the cheeks of sons, and fathers held daughters tightly in their arms.

But, Unede did not stop to greet her Aunt Inidis, and waived away Miriels attentions as she continued down the road. Leaving her Aunt alone with her Uncle in the fray as she pushed forward through the throng and towards the mountain halls. Miriel followed swiftly and fought through the crowd seeing in her cousins eyes a deep unease

"Unede are you well? The cavalry has suffered it is said." Miriel asked as she meet her cousins' quick steps. But the elf ignored the elleth's words and continued forward with little more than a sideways glance.

"Legolas." Miriel said falling back to meet him. "Where are you going with such haste? What has happened?"

"Nothing good." Ingwe said catching up to the group. "Her marchwarden was slain, and she hasn't spoken in days. There is an ill will about her."

"What do you mean an ill will? A tragedy most certainly it is but what could bring forth this mood?" Miriel glanced at her cousin and reached for her hand but Unede did not take it, and sent a fiery glance towards the elf.

"It is not for us Miriel." Legolas said and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You must still your lips, for this is not yours to bear."

Miriel stopped walking, but Legolas and Ingwe continued on behind the Captain at a brisk walk leaving her alone and confused in the bustle of the city.

At long last they came to the doors of the Kings study high in the mountain halls. Unede stopped in front of the carved oak doors and watched the guards, but Legolas shook his head and they remained still. She gathered herself and placed her hands on the door. She heaved a deep breath, feeling the anger and grief that Daerons words had brought her. She let the emotion flow through her and feel her veins with fire and pushed the doors open before her to meet the one responsible for Duilins death.

Thranduil watched her there in the doorway shrouded in shadow and distain. The air in the room rippled with her foul mood and her eyes were dark with hate. The King had never seen her so after a loss of life, and she heaved a breath in disgust before she marched to his desk. Legolas closed the doors gingerly and stood by them in silence as they waited for the lady to speak.

"What order have you given that spares my head?" She spat as leaned across the desk and sneered at the King. He watched her for a moment and saw the sadness that lingered there behind her indignant spirit.

"Do you not wish to be alive?" The King lay down his quill.

"I want to know why my warden lays still in the earth and I stand before you having made an enemy of our kin."

The King stood from his table and drew closer to his captain, but she backed away.

"Duilin is dead, and his blood is on my hands. What orders did you give?" She raised her voice.

"I did what I thought best." He said quietly to her.

"What you thought was best? How many have died in my place? How many were slain in my stead? What evil is this that you have brought upon me?" She cried out and ran her hands through her hair and paced the room as her eyes welled with hot tears of anger and grief.

"All of your warden's knew the risk when they were promoted, and Duilin is the first to die for his word." The King said calmly and poured a heady wine into a brass cup.

Unede sat heavily into a chair and let out a great sob into her hands. Her agony came in waves and and trails of dirt dripped from her chin. Legolas came to her side placed a hand on her back, and looked desperately at his father, silently he begged the King for some words to ease her fea.

But the King did not bring them words of comfort.

"What is it that you would have me do Unede? I gave the order that you should be spared and protected because your life serves a greater purpose than some son of a horseman."

"That does not mean that he is worth less than I. You have doomed Duilin to death, and you have doomed my fea. How long now shall I walk in the halls of Mandos? I shall die at Saurons hand and never return to Middle Earth. Your order was naught but the fourth kinslaying for my royal house. You have cursed me."

"Silence." The King demanded "Duilin upheld his oath to me, just as your Father did to mine. You think I am King by might and deeds Itarilde? I am King by blood and bone and death of eldar. I am King of caves and borne of slaughter. I am not proud, but we are noble, and you will bear the burden just as all who came before you have. It is a hard lesson, and now you have learnt it child."

He offered her the cup, and sat in the chair next to her.

"Drink child." He whispered to her and placed a hand gently on her back. But she turned her head away from him. "Drink and sit with me a while." She took the cup and drank with the King in silence.

"It isn't fair." Her voice cracked as she spoke, and she wetted it with more wine.

"Nothing about our lives is fair." Thranduil said. "I pay for the sin's of my Father each day, and you for the sins of the Noldor. Though alas, we are the leaders of the woodland folk, is there any price you would not pay for their continued safety?"

"I would pay with my life."

"And so would many others, and it has come to pass that one has. But you cannot, not yet."

Tears spilled from Unede's eyes again, and she let out soft sobs and spoke out "I have not felt such grief in all of this age. I did not ask for this life or this burden. I am not strong enough for this service."

"And yet the Valar do their deeds through you and have gifted you with visions of great tasks to carry out. And so, you must be strong enough. You asked to serve me, and I allowed it, but I set forth conditions."

"And Legolas," she said. "You have these conditions for him? For your son?"

Thranduil looked to his son, and the Prince gave a solemn nod but could not meet her eye in the dim light, for he was to ashamed.

"Daeron will always think me an enemy to his house." She said emptying her cup.

"Then so it must be, you cannot quell the grief in his heart, and it is not your place. Nor was it my place to soothe your mothers mourning heart, or to ask the forgiveness of the houses of Finarfin and Fingolfin for the death of your father and the sins of mine."

"Yet it burdens you." She whispered looking up at him through blurry eyes. The King could not look at her, she watched him blink away a swift tear and give a curt nod.

"Such is the weight of my crown." He said at last.

She nodded at the Kings words and found suddenly that more wine had been added to her chalice, and she drained it again.

"Your wounded Unede." Legolas said sitting down next to her and moving her hair away from her shoulder where the cracked blood of a wound covered her sword arm and chest. "I will call for a healer to come here so that you may recover and find rest away from prying eyes."

But the captain shook her head and dried her face on her sleeves.

"No." she muttered. "I'll not be seen till all other's have been treated. My wound does not fester nor pain me greatly."

They were silent for a while as they drank and ate. But in the solemn quiet Unede felt a great unease come upon her fea, and a cold came to her hands and she could not quell the unease in her bones. The spirit spread to her heart, and she knew then that the death of Daeron's son would haunt her and bring her strife for many decades more. No, she thought, this was not the end to the madness that plagues the soul of that elf, his spite for her would not be quelled by time alone.

"I think, my King." She spoke at long last. "That it would be wise to keep Daeron close to you, for my heart trusts him not, and I fear our quarrel has only begun."

And the men nodded at her words, as more wood was added to the fire and the curtains were drawn closed and night came onto the kingdom.


	24. A Dance For Friends

Late Summer of the year 900 of the Third Age: The Day of the Dance at the Palace

"A marchwarden! Truly?" Amarie squeeled and threw her arms around Unede leaving floured hand prints on her back.

Anaire looked up from the rabbit breast she was cutting up and smiled broadly at the her new friend.

Unede laughed and nodded "Aye, so now I'll have to manage Curufin's pining and fighting."

"Did he pine for me? Tell me his words exactly." Amarie whispered quickly her gaze suddenly becoming serious as she handed Unede more flour.

"Yes tell us quick it is all she can think of, does he love her?" Anaire prompted eyes wide.

The newly minted marchwarden grabbed a handful of flour and sprinkled it over the countertop, then scooped her fluffy dough out of a woven basket and lay it on the counter before she began to knead it.

"Gentle with it, else you'll make it tough." Amarie scowled and slapped her hand. "Come on now, you've been gone for months and we haven't heard word since you arrived."

"Aye and that was three days ago, you can not leave your friends to sit and scowl in the kitchen. Amarie neigh died from grief of no word." Anaire laughed.

"Well Unede will choke on her rock of a cob if she keeps at it like that." Amarie flicked Unede on the shoulder and grinned

"What need you of my news of Curufin then, if we are all dead?" Unede toyed and elbowed the sister. "Alright, alight, I pried a bit for you."

"Spied is more like it." Miriel said walking into the kitchen. "What are we talking of."

"Curufin." Anaire said waving her hand to silence the cousin. "Unede has spied for Amarie as you say."

"In the eve he spoke of a fair maiden twice, he said no names, and his conversation was brief, but he hoped that she would seek him out on his return." Unede said simply.

"Oh Amarie those pies cannot come soon enough." Anaire whispered.

"Did you seek him out then?" Miriel said filling the glasses of the ladies with wine.

"I will after the feast tonight I think." Amarie said quickly. "Oh I am all out of sorts and covered in flour, it shall take me all afternoon to prepare for fire tonight." She wiped her hands and drank quickly from her cup. She looked around at the ladies gathered in the small kitchen, before settling on Unede and placing her hands on the dough she was kneading. "Its done, see how smooth it is, put it back in the basket to proove."

"What are you making Unede, when did you take a fancy to baking?" Miriel interjected and peered into the basket to see the lumpy dough sitting in the rings of wicker. She took a long draw from her cup to hide her judgement.

"A trade of skill, a cob for a coney." Anaire held up the leg of the rabbit proudly. "Amarie set the snare herself-"

"Both for the hare and the heart. She means to send the pies with Curufin on his next scouting assignment." Unede laughed, and gave Amaries shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Speaking of trades of skill, your good with braids surely you can help prepare Amarie for tonight."

Miriel nodded as she prodded the dough again. "Sure sure… Unede what is this supposed to be. If its Lembas you want to make my naneth can teach you, they aren't supposed to be lumpy."

"It's a cob!" Unede protested and covered the bread with a floured towel and shewing away her cousin.

"Hardly a cob!" Miriel laughed.

"Oh be gentle with her Miriel, its her first time, give it a century and she will have a right loaf." Anaire said. She stood and walked to the sink to clean her hands.

"It'll take more than a century for this abomination to work out." Miriel muttered.

Unede shot her cousin a look and changed the subject. "Lord Curufin is a fine lad. A good watchman and keen with the knives. He has a liking for the jigs, and a good singing voice. Perhaps after the feast you can join him in a dance at the fire." But Unede's musings were interrupted when Miriel let out a little gasp and a laugh.

"The Quadrille!" She squealed. They watched her as she jumped up and down and finally took Amarie's hand.

"I'll dance it with father, and Anaire with my brother. Then Unede can speak a word to Legolas, and Legolas can bring it up to Curufin, and that's four couples for our corner!"

"Oh yes, yes it should work! Then after the quadrille come's the jig and we can make sure you stand next to him!" Anaire finished clapping her hands! "Miriel its perfect!"

"It's not perfect though." Amarie said half heartedly, she filled her glass again, and took a seat at the table. "Those dances are for the palace feast, and none of us are of a noble house, we will all be feasting in the valley, and he will dance with another before the fire tonight, and she'll have him for the black nag and the rufty tufty around the fire, and I'll just be left to marry some rafter."

Miriel looked pointedly at Unede. But she shook her golden head vigorously. Miriel's face reddened and Unede crossed her arms. Miriel pursed her lips into a tight line her eyes drifted towards the basket of lumpy dough.

"Shall we talk about the cob then Unede? For I know who likes them." She hissed.

"Oh fine!" Unede said "I shall take you to the feast, alright?" Miriel squealed and clapped her hands.

"Unede, can your marchwarden title get us all into the palace feast?" Anaire asked quietly.

"No, it can not." She muttered and crossed her arms.

"Hah, she can get us into that feast." Miriel said teasing her cousin and drawing deeply from the bottle of wine.

"Unede, how did you come by that fair hair?" Anaire whispered standing from the table and taking a lock delicately into her hand. Miriel watched the color drain from her cousins face, and tried to find words to ease her mind but none came.

"I" she muttered at last, thinking it best that her new friends know the truth of it. "I am of the House of Finarfin."

"She shall be High Queen of the Noldor one day, or I shall eat my hat!" Miriel said excitedly, and she clapped her hands together.

The room felt silent and the eyes of the sisters fell on Unede who stared into the cup of deep red wine and watched the liquid swirl along the edges of the clay cup.

"Queen of the Noldor?" Amarie whispered. "But I thought Lord Elrond-."

"He is a half elf, and has half a claim as such, and his mother denied her crown. Galadriel is the Crown Princess, but she is cursed by the valar. Tis Unede's right and we all know it. Who wants an elven King that can choose a mortal life-." Miriel started but her cousin interrupted quickly.

"That is enough, I said I will take you to the feast." Unede shifted, and looked out the window to check the time, but the sun remained high in the sky and the shadows short. The hour was no excuse to leave.

The two sisters squealed and giggled with joy and Unede watched them laugh breathlessly at her kitchen table. Perhaps the excitement of romance would distract them from Miriels lack of propriety and her own desire to rid herself of crowns and the twisted cursed titles her family name carried.

"That title shall get us into a feast I am sure of it!" Anaire said and she grabbed her sisters hand.

"You'll need a good gown." Miriel said with a smile.

"We have them." Amaire replied. Unede breathed a sigh of relief, they were easy enough to distract, or at least polite enough to know she was uncomfortable.

"Not you two, Unede. All she has is cotton kirtles!" Miriel jested and elbowed her cousin.

"Alright then, we shall get you a dress."

"I have a gown for the occasion Miriel." Unede crossed her arms.

"The rabbit needs to rest in these spices, and the bread to prove, we ought to go and get our clothes together, then prepare here while the bread and pies are cooking." Amarie suggested, taking her sisters hand. "Come quickly Anaire you must help me pick right." Unede nodded and the pair walked to the porch and climbed down from the tree, and were gone faster than the hare on the table could hop.

Unede looked at Miriel and raised an eyebrow. "Queen of the Noldor?" She said unhappily.

"What was I supposed to say?"

"I don't know! Not that!" The marchwarden protested.

"Why are you learning to make a cob?" Miriel said flatly. "You hate cob, you always say they are to tough."

"A trade of skill for the sisters, to make Amarie feel better about all the rabbit killing." Unede said dismissively, she gingerly lifted the edge of the fabric to check the dough.

"Why not have the kitchen girls teach you to make the tarts you like."

"And be doomed to eat bad tarts for a thousand years?" Unede said quickly. "Come and look at this gown, tell me if I need another." She stood and beckoned her cousin towards her room.

"Why? Are you trying to impress someone? Are you not keen to wear your floured kirtle?" Miriel teased. She took the bottle of wine and followed her cousin to the bedroom. "We will cinch you up, and set a thousand stars on your brow and you shall look as mighty as your cousin Gil-Galad, though far more handsome!"

"How drunk are you?" Unede turned swiftly away from the wardrobe and looked angrily at Miriel. The young elleths cheeks flushed red and tears came to her eyes, and she drank deeper of her wine before the water slipped down the corners of her cheeks. "Oh Miriel I'm sorry. Forgive me I meant not to upset you."

Miriel cried quietly, and buried her head into Unede's shoulder.

"You get to dance with the prince, and slay orcs and, and train soldiers and protect the forest, and I am not even allowed to dance with anyone but my Ada! It's not fair!"

"Miriel, you've not seen even a century, you are not grown."

"I am grown!" She protested. "I am old enough to drink, and dance!"

"Your not old enough to drink this much. Give me the cup!" Unede took the wine from her cousin and finished it herself. "Help me with this dress and we will let the wine leave you so you can drink this evening and still be able to hold yourself upright. The bottle too, for I saw you take it as well. I need the rest of that wine if I am to get through a thousand dance's and a dinner at the King's table."

"You'll not be sitting with us?" Miriel exclaimed and then quickly began crying again, and patting her face dry on Unede's floured apron.

"Not if you're going to have me announced! I can not bring so many guests if I am not introduced, it would be rude." Unede turned and vigorously pulled dresses out of the wardrobe before finding a green velvet gown buried at the bottom.

"Will this one do?" She said holding it up for Miriel to see.

"Aye" Miriel said with a hiccup. "Though it really is not of the current style."

"Oh valar help me." Unede muttered.


	25. A Wizards Words

2063 After the Battle at Dol Guldur, following the private audience Unede had with King Thanduil

Unede stumbled out of the Kings study, and gripped her side, it had seared with pain when she stood so suddenly from the Kings chair, and it took all her might to keep away the tears that stung her eyes. She gasped a little and found herself leaning on the cold stone walls of the hallway staring at her wet hand and dress stained with fresh blood. She cursed under her breath and steadied herself and wondered how she could get back to the halls of healing.

"Arinyaelen." The guards whispered hurriedly and came to her side. "Let us aide you, my lady please." But she sent them a dark look and waved them off. They steadied her shoulders as she tried to stand, and she took a careful step down the hallway before ordering them back to their stations at the door. Unede gathered herself and slipped around the corner to lean again onto the wall. She gasped for a breath, and let her guard down, allowing a few heavy tears to fall when she pressed her hand again to her bleeding belly. She knew she should have stayed in bed, or had the King come to her in the healing halls. Curse her own pride.

"Are you bleeding all over the King's halls?" A deep voice asked with a little laugh. She looked up and scowled at the grey man leaning on a wooden staff in the shadows.

"I was only trying to spare his majesties chairs."

"It would not be the first time your blood has graced them." He handed her a handkerchief and she dabbed the cold sweat from her brow and let out a ragged breath. She took a hesitant step forward and pain shot down her side, and she gritted her teeth and let out a grunt.

"Arinyaelen, let me help you." He muttered and brought her under his arm, and they took a hesitant step forward.

"Please Mirthrandir do not call me that name." She protested but did not deny his help as they made slow steps down the winding corridor.

"It is your name and I shall call you by it." The old wizard laughed, and the elf he led grumbled in an old tongue.

"Just take me to the healing ward, call for that young healer, you know the one." She said as they made their way painfully forward. At last they came to the healing halls, and she was led to her room, and the door was closed. He lay her in the bed, and watched her face go pale with the pain she hid. Then wordlessly the wizard filled a bowl with warm water from the hearth, and drew the curtains closed, and began to clean the blood from her hand.

At last the healer came in a blur of worry and skirts, and she barred the door behind her and shewed the wizard away. Carefully she peeled back the layers of her linen gown and frowned.

"Oh look at you." She muttered. "You've torn through the stitches m'lady. I will have to clean your wound, and cut away the torn flesh before I can sew it up." Unede nodded and reached for Gandalf's hand pleading with her eyes for him to stay. "Let me go and get the King's Foil m'lady, we've plenty, and-"

"No." Unede said a bit to loudly. "No, I'll not have the weed, save it for those who need it."

The healer shared a look with the wizard and shook her head. Then rose and went to the hearth for the kettle. She poured the steaming water in a cup, and added leaves and a spoon full of honey followed by a thick white liquid. Then she looked pointedly at the wizard who held the captains hand, and placed a finger to her lips as she handed Gandalf the cup.

"Here." He said soothingly, as Elenwe pressed a warm cloth to Unede's side. "Have some tea while she let's the heat cleanse your wound." Unede nodded and let him spoon her the murky liquid. The healer placed a warm cloth on her side and Unede squeezed hard on the wizards hand as pain shot through her again.

"My lady." The healer said while she threaded a needle. "Forgive me for saying, but he is at the door again. He saw the blood at his majesties study, he is rather distraught. Won't you let him come in whilst I work."

"No Elenwe." She said dully, taking another spoon of tea from the wizard.

"No, you say, you won't see anyone." Gandalf said raising an eyebrow. "We are all worried for you child. There are whispers in the Kingdom that you will fade and that we shall find you dead and cold in the garden at sunrise."

She looked at him and snarled. "I want to fade yet alas, both my fea and my body have failed me, and now I lay in a bed of darkness and despair with the words of the deceiver still ringing in my ear."

"So what will you do then." Gandalf said as Unede winced in pain from the first stitch the healer placed.

"I want to stay in this room, with the curtains drawn, until this age is ended, and Cirdan drags me to a ship." She said her voice filling with distain. She squeezed his hand once more, though the pain of this stitch felt duller, and her mind murkier.

" Aye, and then you'll throw yourself from the bow and into the sea." Gandalf laughed, but saw the loss and despair in her eye's as tears spilled onto the satin sheets. "Oh child." He whispered and dried her face with his sleeve.

"I have seen such darkness Mirthrandir." She stuttered. 'I cannot burden my people with this evil. They will surely see it when they look upon me, and I shall bring them not hope but despair. They cannot be around me, even I do not wish to be around me. I should be dead. Dead and healing in the halls of Mandos. I cannot heal here with such a burden on my heart. Instead of peace, I am met with endless chatter of dancing, and courtship and presentation, and all I want is rest Gandalf. A good long sleep, and an age of slumber. I want to be left alone."

"Oh Unede." He said and stroked her hair and gave her the last spoonful of tea, with a wink to the healer who began to snip away the turn flesh and stifle the blood with powdered herbs. "You are here because you are meant to be." He whispered to her. "Because you have work to do still. Your family only wish to see you happy, so they come to you with glad words thinking they will lift your spirits."

"How can I face doom, and then be bombarded with happy thoughts and asked to lead a people? How can they think I will dance, and bake, and paint and be glad? I can't come to court, or sit on a council, or marry a-" But she stopped and let out a quiet sob and gripped the pendent that hung from her neck. "I am to broken Gandalf. Yet so many have pushed me after such a darkness. All I know is the sword, and blood, and bones, and songs of slaying." Gandalf sighed at her words and squeezed her hand, but in all of his wisdom found no words to sooth her spirit in his mind. He was quiet for a time as he watched Elenwe finish her work, and place a bandage on the wound.

Then the healer stood and walked to the window and open the curtains and light shined onto the bed and filled the room. The she said quietly to them "Behold my lady, the sun is shining and the shadow has departed." Then she turned to the pair and smiled gently at Unede. "No longer should you be a shieldmaiden, nor vie in the forest with the warriors. Won't you lay down your arms? You are the light to our people, our morning star that sent the deceiver fleeing at dawn. Won't you help us grow now in other ways, now that the shadow has passed? Do you not desire quiet and calm, and peace? Or to garden, and paint, and take joy in the bird song and the green of the forest? Perhaps your family is right to push these desires on you. They only mean to lift your spirits and guide you to better days and a happier heart. Wont you let them?"

"I have no desires for titles, or crowns. I want time to heal and rest my fea, not dote on tree's and flowers. I said words I knew the King wished to hear. Words of councils, and gardens and bread. Words to ease his worry. I am loyal and true, but inside I am naught be a withered fea, and wish for death."

"Yet this cannot be so, for you are a child of Kings. The wise have faltered, and you have made it right, at a great cost to yourself." Gandalf said solemnly. "But it does not mean you cannot be happy. Nay, it means that you much more than many of us deserve to find a little joy in this world. I am sure you can find it here, if only you will give it a chance." He wiped a tear from her eye, and for a time they sat quietly together, until at last sleep took her, and she met a dreamless rest.


	26. A Kings Reply

The Year 108 TA

After Unede's Arrival in Mirkwood

"She is very sad you know." The King said quietly.

He found his guest sitting quietly under an old oak at the edge of the mountains. He hadn't the heart to throw her in the dungeons as he had threatened. Instead his guard reported that she had spent three days sitting on a stone bench in the shadow of an ancient tree. Before her was the memorial for those fallen in the great war. She sat alone in a silent vigil, the shadows cast by the tree shoulded her in a veil of green solace, as if the forest mourned as deeply as she did. Thranduil recalled the day Gelmir had died and his likeness seemed to shimmer across his mind, but he wiped the memory away, and called his eyes to remain dry. So many had fallen in battle, and he had shed enough tears, they were wasted on the dead. Surely, he thought, surely it was his duty to protect Gelmir's daughter, and already the King had let him down. Thranduil hid a frown when he remembered that it was he who had given the order to close the gates when Laurebrian had decided to return to Lothlorien. The mourning elleth had held her screaming child close to her breast as she road away south. Sometimes he still heard the echo's of Unede's cries when he escorted his troops into the woods, and his heart became heavier.

Unede looked up at the King then, but she did not rise. He stood there in silence, as she wiped silent tears from her cheeks. When at last her face was dry and her posture upright, Thranduil produced a letter from the folds of his robes and took a seat next to her.

"What ease could I give her heart, even if I were to sail with her?" Unede whispered.

"There is none you could give. But this does not explain why you are so eager to come to me, and to serve me, when I am not your kin. I need your words now in sooth, not the words of a homesick youngling. Tell me now, and let not a lie come to your tongue Itarilde, for I will know if it does."

"I would swear the truth to you on the grave of my father." Unede said.

"Then let it be so." Thranduil nodded. Unede was quiet again for many minutes as she sat alone with the King. She wondered if he had already made up his mind, or her words would help him come to a decision. She thought though that truth was best.

"I love this forest. It sings to me, it is in my blood. It is to me equal as the blood of Finwe. I can be both of these. And Lorien," She sighed. "Lorien felt like all the trunks of the tree's were a cage, and every day they closed about me like a trammel until I could not breath, and I felt my life shrinking around me."

The King nodded again and let her go on.

"The Golden Wood has left me with faltering feet, but I am of age and they falter no longer, so now my meaning comes. I am loyal to you, as my father was loyal to you and your father. By blood it is so. But I desire revenge, and I ought to spend my life as I will, for am I not of the house of Gelmir and Finarfin?. Morgoth razed my house, destroyed our noble name, stole the light that is ours by right, and never will we see it returned. Now The Deceiver has taken my father, and he has slain my kin. Sauron has cut down our Kings, and seeks to extinguish my home. Even Galadriel would keep from me what is mine, and let the greatest kingdom of the elves fall to ruin while she holds both the elfstone and a ring of power."

"Careful child, your house is not without it's sin."

"No it is not, but was there sin in seeking to bring back the light of the two tree's though it be a hopeless task? Feanor is not blameless, but his heart was true, and so is mine. Sauron will come back. I have seen it, and you know it. You know he is not defeated. He will put a strong hold in our forest, in your Kingdom, and I seek to raze it and to protect my people. I desire to finish what the High King's before me have left undone. I want to serve you, I want to fight for you and defend Eryn Galen. I would face Sauron and cut him down, even to my end. That is why I brought the elessar to you, that is why I come to you ready to train and fight. For your glory, and for glory to my house, and so this forest can thrive. May Yavanna aide me as she can and would."

The King thought long on her words. For he knew them to be true. The ring had not been destroyed, and his council to remain ever watchful fell to deaf ears. He had come to realize after his father fell, and when the council of Gil-Galad went unheeded that the alliance between the elven kingdoms would be irreparable. Yet here the youngest of the House of Finwe had come to him, speaking of danger to his people. An extension of an alliance he thought was over. He wondered if Elrond would heed her, or if Unede even knew of the courtly battles she would face when she became old enough to bear a crown if she so chose. It was said that Elrond would wed Celebrian, and the King had wondered if it was only to secure his claim over the Noldor- for he was of the disinherited and not the chosen ruler of those peoples. Elrond had not been joyous at the news of Itarilde's birth, and when her father had fallen in battle, Elrond had lamented the end of the house of Finarfin. Thranduil realized fElrond had thought both Laurebrian and her child would fade from this world, and that he would be looked to as a leader. Perhaps the blood of the Silvan elves was stronger in Unede than he realized, and perhaps even a bit of Feanor's spirit was in her.

Thranduil saw then what she could become, a mighty Queen, a fierce warrior, perhaps even the uniter of the Noldor and the Nandor. She was a child of kings. Fair yet terrible, and about her sat the cold might of one ready to face peril.

"How is it that you have come to know this, that Sauron will come here?" He said to her.

"The tales of Galadriels mirror are true, but I will say no more about it, for the fear of what I saw in its depths is to near to my heart." Thranduil nodded at her words.

"This is a letter from Galadriel." Thranduil held up the parchment in his hand. "Your mother will leave for Valinor. She tarries with her sister in Imaldris. Laurebrian and Elrond are displeased by you." He was silent, and then added at last. "They know too, that you have the elfstone, and have asked for its return. While your grandmothers words carry a kinder tone, Lord Elrond is holds no pitty or forgiveness for your youth. He will not have you in Imladris, and counts your actions as an insult and betrayal."

"He has banished me." Unede whispered, looking up that the king.

"He is not wise in this matter I think." The King said knowing she was right, but seeking to comfort the youth.

"And your cousin, King Amroth, what would he have me do?"

"He would have you do as you will."

"It is mine, the Elessar, Galadriel gave it to my mother, now my mother sails and I should do with it as I see fit, and we should use its power. All of the other elven Kingdoms-"

But the King took her hand and Unede ceases speaking. "It should be yours, and we should be protected, but alas, Your mother denied this gift, and now it is meant for Celebrian. I do not fault you child, your heart is true, but I can not accept the Elessar, though I desire it greatly."

"You would send me away then."

"No child, I would have you fight for me, to take up arms as my shieldmaiden. But I would send the stone to Imladris."

And so Unede kneeled before the King, and drew the slender knife from her belt and placed it upon The King's knees. She bowed her head and spoke words of fealty to the King "Here do I swear fealty and service to Eryn Galen, and to Thranduil the King of the realm, to speak and to be silent, to do and to let be, to come and to go, in need or plenty, in peace or war, in living or dying, from this hour henceforth, until his majesty release me, or death take me, or the world end. So say I, Unede daughter of Gelmir of the Woodland Realm."

"And this do I hear, Thranduil son of Oropher, King of Eryn Galen, and I will not forget it, nor fail to reward that which is given: fealty with love, valour with honour, oath-breaking with vengeance." And Unede returned her sword to it's sheath.

She stood and bowed her head to the King. "I am yours to command." She said firmly.

"And I will not forget it." He replied, and took his leave.


	27. A Leaf on Their Branches

The Year 1900 of the Third Age, Following 'A Secret on Their Lips'

"Miriel?" she said quietly. "Miriel, wont you help me with these buttons in the back?"

Unede turned to look at her cousin who was sketching beside her on the porch. The sun was warm above them and the light trickled through the leaves of her tree, making the facets of light dance on the elleths beneath it.

"Oh…Sure, come and stand here." Unede moved before her cousin who lay down her pencil and finished the buttons that sat at the center of the captains back. "There you are dear." She whispered and gave a gentle smile. "This one is quite lovely Unede, such a nice waist. Did Amarie stitch the flowers?" She said fingering the fine green linen with little yellow flowers about the wrists."

"She did." Unede said quietly and took a seat next to her cousin. "Well, I suppose…" She began and then paused. Miriel stopped her sketching and looked to Unede, and took a moment to evaluate her cousins uncomfortable demeanor.

"Unede you have been so…"She started. "Well ever sense your marchwarden…I only mean to say I am worried for you. Do you want to talk about Duilin." But Unede shook her head and took her cousins hand.

"His death has upset me greatly dear cousin, but I fear there is much more on my heart than that." Unede gave Miriel and gentle smile. "Won't you excuse me?" She stood before Miriel could give a small nod and climbed down the ladder to the forest floor where she strode away.

Her feet carried her down the path, led by the whisper of the tree's and the winds laughter in her ears, and the gentle tickling of her fea. The grief in her heart and the anxiety in her belly twisted into a knot of emotion she could hardly wriggle out of. Her arms felt bound and her lips sewn shut, and the only thing it seemed that could move was her feet and they were pushed along by the earth itself. How she wondered did she find herself in such a dark place? Usually she was as free as the wind itself, but the events of the weeks before had left her unsettled and quiet.

Before she realized it she found herself at the door of the fletcher on the edge of the market. And she could not think of how she came to be there, for she would have to have walked through town to reach the door, and she had been to lost in her thoughts to realize where her legs had gone. She shook off the haze of her mind and walked through the gate and wound around the stone fire pits, and through the archway towards the widdiling room where the shafts of the arrows were made. Raw branches were piled under a stone shed, and long shafts were set drying near the fires. And there before her, sitting on a bench running his hands over a birch branch was Legolas and beside him the dark hair of a fletcher who turned to greet her.

"Oh Captain, I am honored to see you here." He said with a smile, leaving the Prince's side and striding towards her. The arrow smith placed his hand on his chest and gave a little bow.

"It is a pleasure to be here." She started. "I…I dare say I am more acquainted with the blacksmith, so I hope you will forgive me, both because I do not come more often, and because I did not come seeking out you." She gave a small nod and looked towards Legolas.

"There is nothing to forgive My Lady." He looked tentatively towards Legolas, then gave another bow and said. "I shall take my leave."

She walked towards Legolas and took a cautious seat next to him. He held the birch branch in his hands and ran his fingers over it, taking in its essence, and it seemed to her that the wood spoke to him in some language only he could understand. That it whispered to him what its future would be in his hands, what it was grown to do. She wondered if she was like that wood, and if her very being whispered its wants to his.

"It will make a fine arrow." She said touching its smooth bark.

"Aye it will." He nodded, thinking she spoke of more than just the wood in his hand. "This will fell some foul beasts in its time I think." And she gave a gentle smile at his words. They sat for a moment listening to the scratching of the birds and the huff of their feathers ruffling in the yard, until at last neither of them could seem to hold their tongues any longer.

"I thought-" she began.

"I did not-" he started.

Blush came to their cheeks and he laughed a little, and looked at her face. Her hands clinched the folds of her dress so hard her knuckles were white and he thought he could almost feel how firmly she was biting her lips. He remembered this look, remembered the first battle he had seen her in, pale and nervous, but beneath the nerves a flame of courage flickered, boiling the ocean blue of her eyes. He wondered, if he spoke first now would all the water of her courage simmer out of her and parch her tongue forever. Yes, it was possible, possible now for his own impatience to silence her. She came to him in a fine dress, and unbraided hair, this was more than a meeting between friend, lest he read her wrong.

"I thought we ought to talk about what I said the other night…I." She paused, and he looked away, not wanting to seem as thought he would pressure her to speak. "I, well I just…..Do you remember when Miriel spilled the stew?" She asked smiling as she recalled the look on the little elleths face with a dusty Prince had entered their home.

"Aye, how could I forget?" He laughed and took her hand. "Will I ever live it down?"

"No, but…" she looked at him. "You know, I wore the nicest dress I owned for that dinner."

He blushed and could hardly look at her. How could he forget, he had spent the whole of the afternoon with the newest recruits? They had run through drills, and sparred, and worked until the sun had set. It was not until he had reached his father's hall that a he remembered the dinner Unede had invited him to. He had run as fast as his feet could carry him through the village, and in his haste skidded past two lover's heading to watch the last of the sunset. 'Please forgive me, your wine, I need your wine.' And in his desperation they had given him their bottle, and he came breathlessly to Olwe's door well after meal had begun. In his shame he had assumed the elleth beside him would never speak with him again.

"Everyone thought what a sham of a Prince, coming late to dinner, so uncordial, what sort of King will he be? And there you were covered in dirt, wearing boots and bracers and tracking in mud."

"Do not forget the poor wine."

"I never shall…" she shook her head and gave his hand a squeeze and the warmth of her fingers filled his heart and sent shivers through his limbs. "They all thought you were mad. But not me."

"No?" He whispered.

"No." She said. "I thought you were the kind of Prince one should be. Dedicated, determined, an unwavering desire to protect your people, an unwavering need to mop up hot soup off the floor." She laughed. "You were, are, the kind of Princess I always wanted to be. The kind the Noldor would never allow me to be in all their propriety. And I knew, I knew I loved you then, and all I could think about was how unworthy I was. If anyone at that table was a shame and a sham, it was I."

"Perhaps it was meant to be." He shrugged. "The Valar know stranger things have happened than me loving you."

"Perhaps." She nodded. "Legolas I can not…I should never have said…" the words raced through her mind, but he spoke before she could finish.

"Unede, there are none who more than I know the burden of position. Here my realm is half of yours, and still I crouch beneath its weight." He moved the kneel before her and kissed her hands. "If only I could lay it aside. You are blessed, though it is hard to see. Blessed that there are other heirs, others who would take up the title of High King or Queen Blessed to have a Vice Regent in Lord Elrond. If it is not a duty you desire, then do not do it. But I must, I must do my duty. Surely you know that."

"I know." She gasped breathlessly as a tear dripped down her cheek.

"I would not put my burden on to you, there is no love so deep that I would make you take my crown unwillingly."

"I should never have told you Legolas."

"Silence, we both knew, but now it is spoken." He smiled and kissed her hands again. "Unede, if you ever are ready, if you ever desire to be our Princess then know… know I will be here. I am yours."

She smiled gently at him, and placed a hand on his face and drew him closer. "It should not be so. You should not be so loyal to me." She whispered and blinked away hot tears. "I would have you court another, I would be content to watch you wed and to be happy."

His brows furrowed, and she felt the hot anger flow through his fea and his face grow as warm as the summer sun. "Speak not of such things, it is a treachery."

"It is not!" Unede refuted. "Legolas, you know as well as I do you need an heir. There are many beautiful ladies who would wear your crown well. Who would give the kingdom what it requires, and I would dare say it is hastily required." Her mind thought only of the dangers and dark things that made their homes in their great forest and fear flickered in her heart.

Suddenly the space between them felt like miles, as though all the trees of Mirkwood had gathered densely between them, and one could hardly hear the words of the other.

"How can you say that? Have I ever showed favor to another?" He hissed, and took her wrist more roughly than he meant to. Her eyes widened at his grasp and suddenly she felt his fearsome possession of her. "How can you say you would be content to watch me wed, to watch my children borne to another elleth."

"My heart means nothing if it is wounded for the sake of the Kingdom!"

"Kingdom, ha! Would that if I could end this Kingdom to have you and bear you away in a mighty ship." His lips slid into a thin line and his eyes grew as dark as the sky before dawn. But suddenly a tenderness came about him, and the wind wisped away the fury in his spirit and he let out a laugh. "Don't you know how many ellons I have chased off you at the fire circles?"

"Legolas what are you-"

"Do not play as if you are unknowing of this! Ever since that dinner a thousand years ago, Ingwe and I have been occupying you for every dance we can, and sending suitors away from your Uncles door."

She smiled at him and twisted a lock of his hair in her fingers mischievously as she remembered the jealous look in his eyes whenever she danced with another. "Suitors you say? And how was it you knew that it was you who occupied my heart and not all these other suitors? Was it the bread?"

He cocked his head and pursed his lips together. "Oh aye, the bread was a help." He drew her closer, and took in her smell, and drank up the way the sun caught her hair like the dew on a summer morning. He ached for the soft of her lips, and remembered the haste in her hands in the tree that night. He felt his need rush through his being when her fingers met the skin on his neck and he his heart ached for her to be closer.

"Things can not be as they were before!" He said in a hoarse whisper as he breathed in the sent of her neck. She shuddered as his breath swept over her skin and felt a fire of desire grow in her. "For I cannot continue without you, even if it is not to have you as my wife."

"Well perhaps I can pity you with a kiss or a dance sometimes." She said with a shy smile, and took a step closer to him.

"Perhaps." The Prince whispered, and watched her for a moment, taking time to contemplate his words. He watched her bite her lips and her drank up the red of her cheeks as she flushed in the sunlight before him.

"You mean for more than that." She said, a light suddenly coming to her eyes, and in them Legolas saw the flash of desire that he himself shared, and he reveled in the way she looked at him with the thirst that follows a hot summer day. Her finger ran down his collar and he shuddered at her touch.

"I…" she held the words in her mouth and wondered at the scorching desire that she had been unable to quell. But he did not let her finish, and instead met her lips with his and pulled her closer to him, indeed it seemed impossible to get close enough to her and the layers of linen that separated them felt like leagues. He pulled back suddenly and looked up with a hiss.

"I have forgotten myself." He said briskly and stepping away from her. "Forgive me I…"

But she took his hand gently and looked up at him through eyes that were hazy with lust. "I would have us forget ourselves again, though perhaps more privately next time."

Legolas smiled at her and kissed her hands again gently, and felt her happiness spread through him and warm his fea. He shook his head and felt his hand reach into his pocket, lead by some invisible desire and from it he drew out a stone. It was as clear and brown as the rusted bark of an oak, strung with lines and cracks so that it looked like the heart of some ancient tree. It was wrapped in silver and strung on thin chain of mithril. "So that you know you are mine."

She ran her fingers over it, admiring how its surface glittered in the morning light. "It reminds me of the forest, the way the boughs fill with the sunlight, the way they are anchored to the earth."

"I am but a leaf on their mighty branches." He whispered.

Sorry for the time it has taken to update!

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	28. A Battle Long Awaited

The Year 2063

It had come at last, a day she had dreaded for two thousand years. A lump settled in her throat as she climbed the rocky cliffs behind the silent scouts that led her through a narrow pass. Jagged cliffs sprung from the mountainside and in the dusk looked like great sharp teeth peaked with the red blood of the suns rays. It seemed to the elves as though the very heart of the hill bled out into the pass, and the surge of its flow pushed them along the narrow ravine, closer to the source of its pulse.

She swallowed as she remembered the look in Legolas's eyes early in the day. He looked at her with eyes that seemed to be staring out into a thick fog impenetrable by even the keenest sight. They had prepared for the battle together in silence. An act usually done with jesting and cautious anticipation, yet this time it had turned to a solemn and mournful dread. And when at last her knives were on her belt, and his quiver was full she found their mouths empty of words, for no breath from her lips could send the fog away and she feared that the gloom had settled forever on his heart. She poured white mead into a leather cup, and they both drank from it and were silent until at last she took his hands into hers and said. "Do not be as Amroth was, promise me this. Do not drown yourself in sorrow or grief. You must carry on for our people, you must lead them through the ages."

"I cannot do this thing you ask. I cannot hide in caves and carry on in cautious calm. No my love, I am and shall always be vengeful and to proud to stay in my fathers halls. So, therefore, I shall swear you this oath, and hope that it will suffice." He said to her words that had hung rung in the ears of her family through many ages, and his eyes grew as dark as the depths of the blue sea as he spoke them.

"Neither law, nor love, nor league of swords,

Dread nor danger, not doom itself

Shall defend the brood of Sauron,

Or any darkness he lay upon Middle-earth from me.

This I swear, to defend our peoples,

And to deal death to the evils of this land ere day' ending,

Woe unto world's end! My word hear thou

Eru Allfather! The everlasting.

Darkness doom me if my word and deeds faileth…

On this holy forest hear in witness

And my vow remember,

Manwe and Yavanna!"

And after he had spoken these words, she left in silence, knowing it would be many a thousand years before she was reborn to see him again.

* * *

"Just up here, there is a crack in the rock." Curufin whispered, and shifted his heavy pack. He beckoned her forward, but the Captain paused. She turned back and gazed far down the gray mountain to the dark edges of the forest where the black of the trees swallowed up the great boulders the mountain had shed. An unease had settled there, and she had felt it bore into her mind as she climbed the craggy cliffs. She had ordered no archer's here, nor swordsman, and their path was not one used by orcs. Yet she thought the there was movement in the trees. And there it was, a figure, shifting slowly through the shadows from trunk to trunk. It was clad in a heavy robe, and a long beard shifted back and forth with each step.

"Captain just through here." Curufin beckoned her. But she did not come, instead she wrapped her cloak tighter about her and watched the figure move in the dusk. She reached out to it with her mind desperate to see if this figure was as evil as she feared it to be, for its presence made her heart ill at ease. Slowly that figure turned to face her, and she prayed that the face would not be hidden in the black shadow she so feared. But at last she saw the piercing eyes of the Grey Pilgrim in the trees for a moment, before he disappeared again into the forest, and she let out a breath she had not realized she had been holding.

"Mithrandir." She muttered, and then turned to find Curufin watching the forest wide eyed. She beckoned him forward and said to him not to be afraid. Then he led her on, further into the veins of the ancient bald hill.

Before them in the shadow of the mountain stood a black crack snaking up the side of the granite stone. It appeared in the dim light to look like little more than a shadow on the irregular rock face, but when inspected it formed a deep slit in the mountain side. The crack was small enough so that one had to turn sideways and remove all their gear and weapons to slip through the crevasse. For ten feet it pressed tightly on Unede's chest, and she tried to ignore the beads of sweat that pooled on her forehead. It was not until her hand found a wider opening that she breathed freely in the dark stale air, and she was certain the other elves could hear the hectic thumping of her heart.

Curufin lit a torch silently and lifted it to reveal the cave where the elves found a moment of reprieve. She was handed a skin of water, and the company drank their fill, and took a small amount of food.

After some time Curufin spoke "We will go forward through this cave, until we come to the mouth of a crevasse. It is low, and wide, and we must crawl through it until the mouth of the pass opens." Unede nodded.

"And then we will be high in the great hall where to orcs and goblins sleep?" She asked.

"Yes Captain." Curufin whispered. "We should find protection from their arrows behind the stones, should any live to let them fly." She nodded again, and then together they made ready the vapors that would lay waste to the teaming horde below them.

The elves sat quietly after they had prepared their deadly store. Curufin let his torch burn low, and they were careful and silent in any movement's they made. After much time had passed, Unede sent out a scout to check the stars, and he reported that the hour was late, and that dawn would be on them soon. This she thought, was the time to strike. She readied the elves, and her scout's guided them forward down the dark passage and towards a host larger than any they had seen in this age.

* * *

The elves scuttled their way forward through the crevasse, inching forward against the rough stone that pressed onto their backs and bellies. The slit in the heart of the mountain was not wide enough for them to draw their bows or throwing knives should the poison fail. They were trapped, trapped in the mountain if their plan did not succeed. For many minutes the slid forward until they saw a glittery red slant before them, and below that a steep drop where the harsh breathing of orcs echoed off the stones. Unede waved at the elves to prepare, and each of them slipped a mask over their mouths and nose and spread out along the length of the opening. Unede peaked over the lip of the crevasse and found below exactly what she had expected. Five thousand sleeping beasts, even the guard had slipped off on his watch and was resting his head on a stone table. She crinkled her nose at their carelessness, and sent a silent prayer to Yavanna that they had brought enough poison to kill the horde below them.

She pulled back over the lip of the cave, and looked sternly at the elves on either side of her. She pressed her eyes shut, and tried to remember all the good that she had had in this life. The feeling of his warm breath on her neck as he slept, the lightness of his dance, the swell of his lips on hers. Then at last she gave a short nod, opened her oiled leather sack, and together the elves released 500 clothes, dripping with the wetted poison of the fire wasps, and leaking vapors heavily into the room as they fluttered down from the ceiling and hit the stone floors in sickly wet slaps. The elves pulled back quickly, eager to make and escape without being seen, and a moment later the room fell into utter chaos.

The screams and shrieks bounced off the hewn rock, and the sounds of agony filled the room, desperate ragged gasps, and clattering of armor, rang sharply into the night. Unede covered her ears as the thumps of bodies began, and harsh calls of death pierced the air. Then, when the chaos had calmed to only a few desperate shrieks, She crawled quickly forward, and beckoned the other elves to follow, and soon they came again to the little room where their exit lay.

"Run now, run as swiftly as you can into the forest, and do not stop. If the enemy knew not of this cave then surly it is now revealed to them, and I'll not let it be your grave. So go now, and be swift, and silent until you are a league away." She said to them. "I will climb now to the tower, and meet this necromancer in his halls. Now my house shall have its vengeance, and our forest shall be rid of this long unwelcome evil." And at with these words she took her knife in her hand, and slipped back through the crack, leaving her host behind to seek the alone the blood of her enemy.


	29. An Uncertain Evening

The Fall of 2065: Rivendell

Rumil paced the room. His feet pattered back and forth across the hearth in frustrated slaps. Every so often he would stop for a moment to let out a huff at the wood elves, open his mouth as if to speak, and begin to pace again.

Unede had barred the door and ordered the curtains closed, and now she sat with her head in her hands unspeaking and unmoving. She had changed from her gown, to her well-worn travel clothes that still smelled of horse and forest, and from the look of her it seemed she wished that the smells would manifest around her so that she might disappear into the trees. The other's around her stood near their packs, counting arrows or folding clothes into their saddle bags awaiting the orders of their captain.

But Elenwe stood alone in front of the fire, unchanged from her evening garb and staring at the flames dancing on the wooden logs. She was pale and clammy and short of breath, and the heat of the flames could not warm the worry in her bones.

"What have you done?" Rumil looked at Unede.

"Hush" she said unmoving. "The walls have ears."

Rumil rushed to Unede's side in only a few strides and grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled her close to him. Her eyes filled with fear and the breath caught in her chest.

"You wed the Prince of Mirkwood?" He whispered into her ear. "You wed the damn Prince and told not a soul and came to Rivendell?" He released her clothing and threw his hands in the air. "I trained you better than this." He yelled.

"Be silent." The Princess said standing swiftly, and bringing her face only inches from his. Now it was not fear in her eyes but swift anger. "I'll not have your tongue running loose and endangering my people."

"Endangering your people!" Rumils snorted. "Your guard sang your praise in front of the entire valley."

Mahtan shot him a dark look and crossed his arms.

"I will deal with him when we are home."

"Home!" Rumil yelled. "Home! You think Lord Elrond would send the Princess of Mirkwood into the Misty Mountains in the winter?" He moved closer and hissed at her. "You think he would send the Crown Princess of the Noldor?"

"Better than in the Spring when the Orc's are all about!" Mahtan muttered.

"Fall is our best chance." Unede said. "We leave now, and we bear the cold before the snows come." She moved for her pack but Elenwe stopped her.

"We can no go out into the night drunk and swiftly, surely we are not so foolish."

"Unede-" Rumil started.

"Your Highness" Beleg muttered the correction, but the Princess raised a hand at his words.

"Your Highness." Rumil repeated with a roll of this eyes. "You should have thought about the repercussions of your actions. This union, your marriage, could be treated as a, a…" he faltered and fear flashed over his eyes.

"As a what Rumil?" Unede asked raising her eye brows and drinking her wine. "Speak." Rumil crinkled his nose as she peered at him over the rim of the glass and for a moment thought he saw a flash of King Thranduils piercing blue eyes.

"As a hostility. What aim do you have? Would you move to be High Queen, to lead an army? To take command of Rivendell? To command all the elves of Middle Earth?"

"Is not Rivendell mine?" Unede tipped her head and raised a finger to Rumils chest. "Elrond is my Vice Reagent, and should I desire to be High Queen, and to rule Rivendell I shall." She sneered at him and took a handful of his tunic into her hand. "If there was a hostile deed done by my family, then it is the rule of your Lady in our southern woods. If anyone, had anything to lose, it would be King Thranduil, by your own admission. But it seems you think I would take his Kingdom too, and claim both Lorien and Rivendell. You think I am burned by some desire for power and crowns. But you see Rumil, you are not my councilor, you don't council queens, you guard them."

Unede crossed the room and poured a heavy glass of wine. She drank deeply, and set the glass down and looked pointedly at Rumil. "It's a funny thing Rumil, we came here bringing aide, and my Uncle put his us in shackles under the guise of a homely house. Not even allowing word to be sent to Eryn Galen of our delay, a travesty of courtesy. Perhaps, as you say, an act of hostility."

She watched him, and furrowed her brow and let the lights of the fire dance about her, and a glow surrounded her and for a moment Rumil saw the deep darkness that was settled in the seat of her heart, held there by some unseen force. But she moved aside and his gaze broke, and he felt a sadness flow from her and a peace settled into her skin and she let out a long sigh and shook off the shadow that had nearly bound its self on her shoulders, then gave the old elf a sad smile.

"The truth, my old friend, is that I wed Legolas because I love him. I love him desperately, we wed for no other reason, and I do not delight in the burden that these titles bring. I have no intention of ruling Rivendell, or being High Queen, and I counseled Galadriel against taking a title other than Lady of Lorien. I risked the disapproval of my countrymen and the Kings Council to come to Rivendell, and forge better kinship with someone who banished me. Still, cannot see his reasoning for keeping us here. And it seems I can do no right where ever I turn." Unede said gathering her thoughts and Looked to Elenwe. "But alas, Elrond cannot keep Elenwe here, it is a risk to him and he knows it now. Elrond would not dare to insult the King of the Woodland realm."

Rumil cursed, knowing he should have counseled Elrond to let them leave more swiftly. "This all could have been avoided with a messenger or even honesty from you at your arrival."

"And have him think I mean to take over all of elvendom as you did? No, better show good manners and good will and better our relations first. There is more at risk than orc attacks and elven crowns." Rumil furrowed his brows at her words.

"I for one am anxious for the road. We ought to ride at dawn." Beleg said trying to break the tension as he closed his pack and stood to face the others. "We have all had enough of this Your Highness, let us abscond this homely house and go back to our forest."

"Beleg if I hear another word from you, I shall throw you in the dungeons with Mahtan." Unede said and clinched her fists. Desperately she searched her mind for a plan. In battle she had a thousand contingencies and yet in the heat of court she found herself witless and unwise.

"This is what we will do." She began at last. "I will stay and everyone else will leave on the morrow. Elrond has no choice, he must let you go, and if not now then the repercussions The King will deal him are unthinkable. Even Legolas could not stay his fury." Unede paused for a moment "Have a company come and fetch me next summer."

"That is your plan?" Rumil said cautiously "Hide the truth and stay quiet?"

"Captain." A quiet voice spoke.

"What else is there to do Rumil? What words could sooth my uncle's malice? I thought aide would put us in the good graces of Rivendell. I thought my blood would give Elrond reason to heed my words. I thought my station would bring respect for Eryn Galen and give us a seat at the White Council. This journey was a test, and Rivendell has failed. They see my Kingdom as no more than an inconvenience, and I as no more than a fool."

"Your Highness." She spoke again.

"His fury will pass in time. He only acts for your safety. Perhaps if you tell him the truth-" Rumil replied.

"Unede." She said more firmly.

Their conversation paused and all eyes turned to the healer who stood at the hearth wringing her hands.

"I…" She started "I…" and she fell silent again. "I gave sleeping herbs to the bird keeper and sent word to His Majesty three weeks ago."

"You sent word to King Thranduil." Rumil breathed.

Unede's shoulders slumped and she poured more wine. "What did this letter say Elenwe?"

"Only to expect our delay." She was quiet again "I thought we needed to bide more time. I only meant to ease you of the need for haste."

"What exactly did the letter say Elenwe." Unede said.

The healers eyes welled with tears and through her sobs the story fell into place.

"I told The King that Lord Elrond felt it was unsafe for so few elves to travel back through the pass so close to winter. And that he was holding us here until it was safe for the wood-elves to return home, and that The Lord Elrond was keen for you to stay here in Rivendell, with the Noldor, where he deemed it safe for you."

Unede clinched her fists, and Rumil let out a cry of exasperation.

"Do you not trust our Princess to handle this little healer. Your place is to stay quiet and tend our wounds, not insert yourself into the business of our leaders. Did you not think what your actions could mean?" Beleg spat at her.

"My mind was bent that we should go home! Just as you were, I have tired of tarrying here in this valley."

"Silence." Rumil shouted over the feuding pair. "Unede, how long did it take you to ride here?"

"Seventeen day's time, we made great haste."

"And how long does it take for one of your companies to ready themselves for travel?" Rumil said quickly.

"An afternoon." She replied flatly.

Rumil cursed again. "Rivendell will have a host of wild elves here in mere days."

"Still your tongue the you should call us wild." Mahtan said "We've spent more than an age at war while you rest in talans under the protection a magic ring, and a witch."

Their voices quieted when a brisk knock came on the door, and the company looked to Unede.

"Unbar the door and let the Lord in." She muttered and poured another cup of wine.

The Lord Elrond strode into the room, leaving behind him a dozen guards in the hallway. He watched the wood elves standing before him, wild and angry, even the fire burned hotter with the fuel of their feas.

"I had never thought you wise child." Elrond said at last. "Your father's blood has thinned your better sense. What a precarious position I have found myself in, that you have made my house a prison."

"I came with aide."

"You came with secrets niece." Elrond continued "Secrets which were better spoken than silent. Your healer is quick witted, with more wisdom than you will ever have. Well, it seems, this Prince has chosen his mate. I would have tended you better Your Highness had I known of your travels for I am sure you have deemed me a poor host."

The healer watched Lord Elrond, and behind him Unede gave a swift and short nod.

"A poor host indeed. I thought this was a homely house, your visitors should be treated no different than I. Surely you desire comforts for all your guests be they royal or no."

Elrond began to speak but Elenwe continued.

"I was quite surprised too that you would treat our Captain which such cold malice. She is your family, and a hero to the elven folk. Is this the courtesy that the mighty Glorfindel receives? Or perhaps you think poor wine and bed rolls are a luxury to those who live in caves. Your Niece is the Crown Princess of the Noldor and you let her sleep on the floor. I've heard of better hospitality from dwarves."

"I meant no offense, allow me to better your stay tonight, and on the morrow we can speak of your return home." Elrond said.

Elenwe sneered at him. "I am of the mind to stay in the chambers you have given us. If this is what you think the woodland realm deserves, then it is what we shall have. Now, I beg you, leave us to our wine and fire and let us find rest after such an unsettling evening."

The Lord bowed and bid the company goodnight, and the room fell silent save for the sound of Rumil filling everyone's glasses with wine, and Beleg loading another log onto the fire.

Unede came to Elenwe and brought her into an embrace and held the elleth there for many minutes in silence until finally she spoke.

"How can I repay you for all you have done for me." She whispered to the healer.

"Just get us home Your Highness. Just get us home."


	30. A Letter From Afar

January T.A. 1982

She sat quietly eating a tart and flipped the page of the book she was reading. After a moment she lifted her head and pealed back a cloth to check the bread that rose wistfully in the wicker basket on her table. She poked it, and the dough sprung back excitedly towards her. She raised an eye brow wiped a floured hand on her apron and sat down again heavily in the chair.

Unede had arrived back in the elven mountain kingdom only the evening before, and had hoped to find her friends baking in the kitchens this morning. They would be a welcome distraction for her nerves, she always found herself anxious when she arrived home from watch first. However, the sisters had been unexpectedly absent from the Kitchens, and she wondered what delayed them so late into the morning.

She turned the page of the book again, and thought to start some tea, but was interrupted by a fluster of movement, and swift whispers as the ladies entered the castles kitchens in a flurry. Their cheeks where flushed, and their hands clasped together as they looked from one another to Unede. The captain smiled at them and wondered what had them in such a state.

At last they could not hold their tongues, and Amarie spoke with a broad smile. "His Majesty and His Highness have gone to your Aunt and Uncles house and a messenger is coming for you now." She said breathlessly and held her sister's hand.

Unede sat still in her seat, and remembered quietly. Had it already been a century since that night in the tree? Her hand came to her breast and she remembered the pendant that lay under the folds of her dress, given in desperation, worn in secret. She wondered if she was prepared for what came next in this stage of life. If she was able to lead in a different way. But her thoughts were quickly interrupted.

"He was dressed finely, Unede, the bread has worked! All our work and toil has not been wasted! This could be the moment, he plans for courtship, I am certain of it." Anaire leaned forward on the table and took the captains hand into an excited grasp.

She could not find words, her heart swelled, her stomach turned, she thought at least they would wait for peace. She knew they were far from it, and in her heart she knew that the next years would bring unknown tests of bravery. She sat at the table biting her lips and staring at her friends before her, wondering if this was wise at all. What would she even say?

"Unede come now, take off your apron and wipe the flour from your face. Important things are afoot." Anaire strode next to her and pulled her to her feet and quickly began to pat her hair and wipe the grains from her hands and nose. Her rush was not unneeded, for just as she finished a messenger came into the room, heaving breaths of haste.

"Captain, my ladies, His Majesty the King has requested your presence at the house of the Marchwarden Olwe your Uncle." He gave slight bow and lowered his head, and with nervous steps Unede led him out of the room, and they walked together through the great stone halls, and through ancient carved pillars, and down wide winding staircases. They passed the castle gates, and followed the cobbled streets through the city, until at last their feet met the dirt paths that ran past cottages and gardens. Then they came to it, her Uncle's house, settled the trees, and rimmed in flowers, and bathed in warm sunlight, and she gathered her courage and wondered if she was prepared for what was behind that door. Or if she even could be.

The messenger coughed a little, and she offered him a gentle smile before thanking him and walking nervously towards the door she had entered a thousand times over a hundred lifetimes. She had expected to find behind the door, a warm dinner, a smiling King, a nervous Prince, a blushing Indis, a drunken Miriel, a joyous Olwe. But when she opened it, she found instead, a room waiting in silence. Her family sitting round a table, tea cold and undrunk before them, and a stern silent King. Her heart sank, but lifted again when she saw that Legolas sat slumped by the window, no worse for wear than when she had last seen him two moons ago. But it was sadness, and worry, and grief in the room, not the joyous occasion she had anticipated.

Thranduil lifted his arm and beckoned her to sit, and she followed suit nervously. She had not seen him this serious since she first came to the woodland realm nearly two millennia before. "Child." He whispered quietly, and the heavy sadness on his tongue washed over Unede like a cold spring shower. She gripped the edge of her seat. "Child, a letter has come, it bears much ill news."

Unede nodded but did not speak. Her family was quiet and fear had settled onto them and the air hung thick between them. She glanced towards Legolas, but his eyes did not leave the floor, and she felt her stomach drop and her heart beat heavily in her chest.

"The King Amroth is dead, he has drowned." She felt her heart grow cold and the taste of bile coated the back of her throat, but the King continued. "Nimrodel has been lost, her whereabouts are unknown and she is presumed to be dead as well." The room around her seemed to become hazy and she felt the blood drain from her face and her stomach became sick and heavy. "Unede, Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn have come to Lothlorien, and she has bid you go there." She tried to find her tongue she searched her mind for words but none came. Unede looked desperately to Legolas but he did not return her gaze and she felt her vision blur as she blinked away hot tears, and wrung her hands desperately.

Olwe spoke for her though. "Why does she call for her to go to Lothlorien? Will you send her there?"

But Unede did not wait for the King to speak, and found her voice through shock and grief, and in a hollow voice she spoke quickly, for he knew Galadriels heart and her desires. "She wants to be Queen." She breathed as she met the Kings eyes. "Galadriels desire has always been to rule. Now her desire has come and behold, her heir and her spare are absent. Her daughters will not bear a crown in Arda or Endor."

Indis said waving off her nieces words, then turned desperately to the King "Will you send her away back to Lothlorien?"

"The question is not if he will send me away." Unede spoke again. "The question is if you intend to punish me for my Grandmother usurping a throne that is your blood right."

"Perhaps these conversations are better held in private." Legolas said quickly at her revelation shifting in his chair. "The news has only just come, let us take time to think on this a while."

The King looked at Unede and his eyes bore into her, searching her soul and through thin lips he hissed. "What does my captain say to this, what would she do in my stead."

"I…" She started and trailed off. "I am…..I am worth only my words and deeds, I took a vow, and so my allegiance lies here. Therefore, I will not go, lest by the command of the King. And I shall take whatever punishment he see's fit, for my heart is shamed by my grandmothers actions."

Unede bowed her head and continued. "This I know too, that this is an ill start for Galadriels rule, for she has made enemies swiftly with her Kin in the north. She see's me as both an heir and an ally, and I wonder if she desires for me to quell your temper your Majesty. But that is not my right, for I would be angry if I sat in your chair and wore your crown. I would not wish to be the cause of any strife, and I would not blame you, your Majesty, were you to send me away for the sake of our peoples good relations."

And they were silent for a time and hardly a breath could be heard until the King spoke again and said "I will think on this a while, and give you my answer tomorrow." And he rose, and took his leave from the house of Olwe and Indis.


	31. A Shared Storm

Fall 900 TA

The rain poured hard in the south of the forest that night. It came in thick drops, and the wind made the limbs of the trees groan and churn. But still the elves kept watch in the pitch of the night. Unede sat peering out into the forest, and listening hard for the foot falls of orc's or the cackles of goblins in search of a dry reprieve, but none came. Nothing dry and warm dared to move from its haunt.

A gentle tap came to her shoulder, and Unede turned to see her fellow guardsman come to relieve her of watch duty. They gave a gentle nod to each other and exchanged brief pleasantries before Unede climbed gingerly across the slippery moss of the tree limb and higher still towards the talans at the center of the outpost. She ducked under the branches of a linden tree and climbed until at last she came to a little flet where she had slung an oiled cotton tarp over a branch and pinned it to the limbs crossing below her and there she found a reprieve from the wet of the night. She dipped into the entrance and pulled off her drenched cloak and hung it across the opening, then removed her sword and wrapped herself in a warm wool blanket she had saved.

At last a she had a relief from the rain, and decided then to sit and rest her mind and thoughts until morning came. She took a bite of cheese, and a sip of cold tea, and hummed a song to dispel the cold and gloom of the dark night. Then at last, feeling the creep of exhaustion, lay her back against the trunk of the tree and fell into an elven dream.

But her rest was soon disturbed and she jumped a little when her cloak was flung back and the dripping figure of Legolas tried to desperately squeeze into the shelter as the rain picked up. He peeled off his cloak and hung it next to hers as she raised and eye brow, and could not help but smile as he tried to dry his face and squeeze the rain from his hair without wetting her in the small space.

The smiled at each other and he folded his belongings into the corner and undid his bracers and quiver, and unstrung his bow. Unede reached for the quiver and tipped the water out of it with a giggle and the two grinned wider in the darkness. From his breast pocket Legolas pulled out an oiled leather sachet and produced a candle, and without a second thought Unede filled a cup with water and lay tea leaves into it and set it on top of the clay bowl the candle had been placed into. They folded themselves as small as they could and sat tightly around the candle and the warming water.

"You're a sight for sore eyes." She reached over and put his dripping hair behind his back so that the water did not extinguish their scant fire.

"We have only just arrived from scouting, and I do not have watch until the morrow." He said.

She nodded at his words. He had left before her, not long after the summer dances, and she had arrived nearly a fortnight ago. She thought desperately, 37 days, she finally concluded, since she had seen him, 40 since the merry embrace of wine had led them to share dances all night by the fire and she steadied herself, for she still felt dizzy from all the spinning when she thought of his hand around her waist and the way his eyes sparkled in the firelight. It had rained for nearly three days, and already she had forgotten what it was to be dry, and she thought a herself a far cry now from that same elleth in a fine dress with flowing hair. She watched him and searched herself for braveness and stirred the tea a little in the pot.

"Just some goblins in the south, quieter than we expected." He commented and picked on the cheese that she had left out.

"That's surprising." She shrugged.

"Not with all the rain." He said. "Do you want a bit of rabbit?" He pulled out the last of his jerky and offered her the slice which she took gratefully as the water began to steam.

"I" She said quietly blushing. He looked at her quizzically and smiled as she added a soggy lump of sugar to the tea and gave it another stir.

The rain picked up and Unede laughed as a few drops leaked through the sides of the pitch and dropped onto Legolas's head. He crawled over on his hands and knees and shewed her a little to the side, and she gladly made room for him on the trunk and offered him a part of the wool blanket. They watched the water drip down the canvas and slip through the cracks of the flet, and the water over the candle came to a gentle boil and he poured the tea into little clay cups and handed her one. She took it gratefully and as she leaned back she found that Legolas's arm was bound around her shoulders, and had pulled her into a warm embrace as the winds clapped and blew outside of their scant shelter.

"I thought." She started again and lay her head on his chest. "I thought that for a little while, we might ignore the all the omens." They had played this game before, a more delicate dance than that of a fire circle. They had stepped delicately around topics of courtship, and feigned indifferent friendship on these long assignments in the forest. But for all the pretend they took part in, neither was brave enough to speak of the topic of actual love. So instead they shared rabbit, and saved candles for tea, and hid sugar for each other rather than the other friends. Little acts of defiant affection.

She sat there for a few moments sipping her tea and listening to the rain, and the whispering candle and then broke from his embrace and reached for her pack. She undid the clasps and noticed her hands shook as she took a parcel from its depths. There bound in leaves and oiled leather she brought forth a half stale cob and set it next to the flame, then settled back into his arms. After a few minutes he turned the bread, and poured the more tea. She watched him there in the orange glow of their little candle, wet, and humming, still as glad as she had ever seen him.

Gently she opened the leaves and revealed to him the crisp brown of the bread.

"It's a cob." He said giddily and took her hand in his. The twinkle in his eye was all she had imagined it would be, and she felt a hearty blush rise to her cheeks.

"A soggy cob as luck would have." She stammered and drank her tea, and then broke the bread apart and handed him a piece. "and probably tough and lumpy."

"You made this?" It was more of a statement than a question, and he stuffed a bite into his mouth. She nodded a little, and pulled herself closer again in the warmth of the wool.

"Maybe in a decade you'll have a right cob to eat."

"This one is as right as rain I think." He whispered, and with his words the rain picked up and fat drops rolled down the edges of the their little tent, and they ate quietly to the patter of the water. "It would be nice if for a while we pretend that we were destined to live happy lives together." He whispered and set his chin atop her head.

"Shall I carve our names into the wood as the men of the world do?" She teased and smiled up at him.

"Though I would delight it in, I do not think the tree would much like that." And the tree shuddered a bit to affirm his observation. "Perhaps we could have circumvented all of this, if we had taken our intended paths and been the enemies we should have been."

She nodded into his shoulder and whispered "Perhaps." They were quiet then for a long while, and when he had finished his bread he looked down and saw that his love was once again lost in an elven dream with open eyes and a gentle breath. He pulled her a little closer and waved his hand to extinguish their little flame, and then after many days of travel, tried to find a little rest himself.


	32. A Hope Foretold

Year 100 of the Third Age

The whole forest glowed in an amber haze. The suns rays rippled through the branches, and down through the leaves and the wind whispered through forest, making the light ripple like the streams of light that penetrated a glassy stream. The elleth tried to catch the beams of light in her hand and they flittered away, slipping through her fingers and out of her grasp.

"It is not my own, it slinks away from me, like scattered sunbeams. I can always see what it will be, but the water twists it from my grasp." She whispered to the elleth next to her. "I yearn for it Nimrodel, I yearn for my life to be my own."

But Nimrodel said nothing, and lay a hand on the back of the elleth, unable to quell the yearning in the child's heart and the despair in her soul.

"She is overburdened, Galadriel is careless with her."

"Hush Amroth." Nimrodel sent him a dark look, but he continued to pace along the creek.

"I am the King, and I shall not still my tongue. Galadriel overburdens her, a poor atonement for the feeble daughters she created."

"Speak not so harshly of them my love." Nimrodel pleaded as she rubbed the crying childs back. Unede wiped away a hot tear.

"They lay on her shoulders the burden of two daughters and the crown of a people, and expect her neither to bend nor cast it aside. She has barely reached her majority and already she is weary from their demands."

Nimrodel stood swiftly and crinkled her nose at the King before her. "Now you have gone to far, she is stronger than she looks. Unede has fire in her."

Amroth turned hotly on his heal, and the pebbles along the creek tumbled away, crackling as the sudden movement sent them flying. "Aye, her spirit is strong and willful, and Galadriel means to extinguish it, and bend Unede to her own desires. She forces duty on a child." He shook his head and looked towards Unede who sat with her hands in the water, still trying to catch the sunbeams scattered across the bottom. "My father was never so careless with my education."

"Galadriel knows the Noldor will need a Queen soon, they are not elves who tarry peacefully with no leadership." Nimrodel chided the King in a feeble effort to make since of all the burdens that were put upon the youngling the so cared for.

"The few Noldor that tarry in middle earth will suffice with Lord Elrond as their steward. Galadriel is to proud, the Wandering Companies are no Kingdom to be ruled as they tarry in Rivendell."

"She thinks a young Queen will give them hope, especially one who was born in Middle Earth. Galadriel is of the mind that Unede's youth demonstrates the opportunity for a new Noldor Kingdom. She means to unite the Wandering Companies and grow the Noldors numbers." Nimrodel said hastily. "The Lady means to rule through Unede because the Noldor will not accept a Queen who was exiled, and whose rule of Lindon and Eregion was so short lived."

"Grandmother has me do all of My Aunt and Mothers duties. I have to go to all the dances, sit at all of the councils, I aide Amroths councilors with all of their duties. I have tutors every morning at sun up until the afternoon! I haven't a moment to breath Nimrodel." Unede pleaded, and took her friends hand desperately. "I can't do it, father would have never had me burdened so."

Amroth clasped his hands on her shoulder and shook her head. "Surely child your mother does some of her duties? Does she not correspond with Rivendell? Or perhaps something simpler, I believe I lay the trade duties with Rohan onto her?"

Unede flung her arms into the air, and her robes ripped in the breeze in swirling green fury. "_Alas that is I who does that duty."_ She cried out in a foreign tongue.

"There, she has gone away again!" Nimrodel sighed in her silvan.

"I see." Amroth shook his head. "Well you are fluent enough in Rohirric-"

"And Westron, and Khuzdul, though I'll need none of them in Eryn Galen." She crossed her arms and kicked the pebbles in the creek letting the water spray up in her fury.

"Unede." Nimrodel tried to sooth her and pulled the elleth down to sit next to her. The old elf stroked her friends hair and looked desperately at her lover behind her dark hooded eyes.

"I am not suited for court Nimrodel. If I have to sit through another council meeting about who will gather fall fruit, and what day feasts shall be, and how many barrels of honey a horse is worth, I think I shall scream so loud all the birds in Lorien will despair. Oh and those maidens she assigned to me!"

Nimrodel stifled a laugh, but Amroth sent her a sharp look, and shifted on his feet.

"All braiding my hair, and making me knit. I spent three days embroidering flowers on the hem of a dress I would only ever where for one dance. What a waste of our eternity it is to embroider. It is a misuse of my skills. I should be learning to fight, not reading trade agreements and sewing."

"Oh I rather enjoy it." Nimrodel said now fingering her own sleeve.

"It is to much." Amroth said quietly. "It is to much on a child. Perhaps you were right, Nimrodel, to ask me for her leave. Unede should be with her family in Eryn Galen. There are other heirs, let Celebrain take the crown, or Elrond. They have the rings of power, and the Noldor are safe. Galadriel intends for him to have the Elfstone. Unede your people are safe, safe in Rivendell and safe across the sea."

But her eyes had glassed over, and her jaw was slack. Amroth watched a hand come to her breast as her breath heaved.

"Unede?" Nimrodel said squeezing her hand. "Unede what is wrong."

"What do you mean she intends for the elfstone to be my Uncles?" She whispered.

"These were her words to me, a gift given for Celebrain." He replied.

"She…but the mirror…I" Unede pursed her lips and shook her head. "She doesn't care about my people. She doesn't care about Sauron, she only cares about a crown on her head. That foolish, proud witch."

"Child, be not so harsh with your words, Galadriel is wise, she has seen the light of the trees." Amroth chided her.

"Perhaps she has, but she also knows that Sauron is not defeated. He will come to Dol Guldur, I saw it in the Mirror. She will hide the elves of Lothlorien and Rivendell, and she will leave my family in Eryn Galen to die! That stone is mine, my birthright, to use to protect my people, and she would take it from me!" She said it desperately and the trees shuddered as she blinked away hot panicked tears.

"Unede your speaking in riddles." Nimordel said quietly, and wiped away her tears with her sleave.

"No she isn't." Amroth said quietly. "For I have heard whisperings of this. Whisperings of a quiet malice in Mirkwood."

"Yes, Sauron will go there, I saw it Nirmodel, I saw it in the mirror, and I have to warn them. I can't let him take my home Nimrodel. Gandalf entrusted Galadriel with the elf stone to give to the Elessar. I am the Elessar, and I am their only hope. Galadriel keeps me from my people, she would let all the wood elves die, and let that forest wither, when she holds a stone that would make it hale and whole. A stone that would allow me to heal that forest. " She looked desperately at Nimrodel. Her hands shook, and her blood ran cold, and all the fire in her body fell in boiling tears. "Let me go, please, please help me leave this place. Help me escape. Amroth."

Amroth watched her then and felt a cold wind sweet through his soul. He recognized her fea, reaching out to him with grief and longing for that great vast forest of her childhood. He pursed his lips and knew, deep in the very core of his being. He must help this child protect his kin in the North. She was their only hope.


	33. A Courtly Affair

T.A. 1982: Following the announcement of King Amroth and Nimrodels Deaths

Legolas sought her out in the kitchens, he let his feet lead him through the halls, down flickering stone corridors and through high carven arches. His father had shewed him from Unede's family's home and kept him in conferences all day. They both knew she needed space, but his head was so full of racing thoughts and 'what-ifs' that he could hardly pay attention to the tasks that were before him all day.

He recalled the discussions that had spanned the afternoon with the Kings council, and his thoughts twisted and raced with anger that Unede was left out of conversations so pertinent to her own life. As the Prince wondered the halls he found himself unable to stop his mind from replaying the afternoons affairs, and an unsettling anxiety twisted his gut.

"You should send your son to rule your cousins Kingdom."

"You should declare war if Galadriel should take a crown there."

"The King should go south and rule, and leave Prince Legolas in Eryn Galen instead."

"His majesty should send Captain Unede to be your emissary, she can be the Lady of Lorien."

"No let the Captain be an advisor to Lady Galadriel."

"Your Majesty that will only set the Wandering Noldor against you, if Captain Unede is swayed to her Grandmothers side we will be alone, our weaknesses exposed by her treachery. They will expand."

"A trade your Majesty, the Captain for the Elessar."

Legolas nearly lost his temper at these words, but the King saw his son bent with anger, and spoke. "My Captain is not a jewel to be traded for. She is sworn to me and to this country. Nor would she be swayed to betray me were we to send her south."

"Surely you don't trust her entirely. Galadriel means to steal our Kingdom." A Daeron said quickly."We must gain from your Cousins death, we cannot loose Lothlorien, the silvan elves there can help us, a strong hold in the south is invaluable. Unede has a hand in all of this! She is treacherous your majesty, and she seeks to expand Galadriels reach. First Lothlorien, then Rivendell. She comes for your crown and your land. Mark my words, this is only the beginning."

On and on it had gone until at last the King stood, and the other's with him, and he dismissed his advisors from his chamber and took a silent seat before the fire. Legolas brought his father wine, and saw the heavy gloom lay around his shoulders as his father's grief was lay bare for only his son to see.

The Prince took his father's hand and spoke no words, and together they drank and listened to the fire, and sat with their grief. Then at last when the afternoon had passed in silence, and much wine had passed between his lips, the King spoke.

"Galadriel was once our ally. She spent many years in our wood, under my father's protection."

"Do you trust her?" Legolas whispered.

"My Cousin Amroth did, and so I think I should. The Princess of the Noldor will protect our Silvan Kin, she bears a ring of power. And if she takes no crowns, or title, save for Lord and Lady, then I am keen to leave them be. We need no more trouble at our doors, and I do not desire to lead my cousins Kingdom." The King sighed the words.

"Then you will send Unede away as your emissary? Father she should be here, to plead her case, to council you, to…to be a part of the decisions that govern her life. Surely she knows more of the will of Galadriel than we." Legolas said the words desperately, and the King let out a deep sigh.

"No son, she cannot be. She is not on my council; and for now she has lay aside all titles of Princess that the Noldor might bestow. All would give her rights to these meetings, yet she has turned away their honors. Will you finally wed her and make her our Princess, and bestow her a seat at this table? Will Unede name herself Princess of the Noldor and come to my counsel? Will she take up a crown forge an alliance between the Silvan and Noldor?" He asked and looked to his son. "No, and so the fates of the world must be chosen in her absence." The Prince frowned at his fathers words, and the King put a hand on his sons shoulder. "I do not say these words gladly, they burden my heart and break it. I would have her here if rights allowed it. But alas, if Galadriel does not name herself High Queen than I should be glad enough to let her lead there and keep our southern kin safe under her ring, and away from the evil that plagues our woods."

"And you would send Unede in my place as your representative." Legolas whispered. But the King did not respond.

"You can wed her, and make her our ally, a safe measure against the expansion of the Noldor." The King shrugged.

"A dowry. You would give Galadriel Lothlorien as a dowry." The Prince spat.

The King shrugged. "Is it not a love match? Would this not bode good for all involved? I see no reason for this to develop into war or seed further distrust between our nations."

"Distrust? Did you hear the way your council spoke of Unede? Daeron sees her as a snake, he means to turn all of the Kingdom against her. The Noldor pose no threat to us. There are no more than a few hundred, let them toil with their wizards, and their secrets. They have brought Eryn Galen into their battles and schemes in the second age, and I have had enough. Unede wants no part of it either, yet our court comes for her throat like vultures to a carcass." The King took his sons hand and squeezed it, and suddenly Legolas saw the worry in his fathers fea, and the fear that whispered through his eyes. "You would send her away for her protection. To hide her from the dark lord, and from the deceit of the court." He said softly, and the King smiled sadly at his son, and a grief settled onto them.

When, late in the evening, Legolas had been released from his fathers side, he sought Unede out and found her in the kitchens of the palace. There she was before him, angrily kneading a dough into submission. She didn't look up from her task, and so the Prince added a log to the fire, and filled the kettle with water and took after making them tea.

When the kettle whistled with completion, he filled the pot with fresh tea leaves and placed lumps of sugar on the table. He watched her add the dough back to the basket and brush her dusty hands on her apron. Then she looked to him. Her face was pale, her eyes red, her hair a mess. His heart sank when he saw her.

He poured the tea into the cup and offered it to her. Her lips tightened and she gripped the cup between her hands. How could he tell her, how could he explain what his father meant to do. Princess or prisoner, she was treated like a trinket. Perhaps he would not tell her at all, perhaps it was better to spare her from her fathers plans.

"Galadreil asking for you to come home is a good omen, she holds no ill will towards you coming to Eryn Galen, she loves you." He said with a gentle voice, and placed his hand on her arm. She lifted her head and looked at him angrily, hot tears spilling down her cheeks.

"A good omen? Why do you think my heart grieves Legolas, why would you say such a thing? Do you desire for me to forsake my oath and my duty, and my people, just for some, some crown?" She spat the words at him and wiped away the tears from her face desperately.

"That's not what I-" He started.

"Not what you meant? Of course it is! You think I made a childish decision, and regretted it all these years? You think I've been waiting for an invitation to go and take a tittle elsewhere?" 

"No I only meant to turn down an honor so great would be-"

"Would be what? What would it be Legolas." Acid spilled from her tongue and the words hit him like fire.

"Foolish! You are meant to rule a people! It would be foolish to say no! Its an honor for you! We honor you!" He said hastily pushing his tea away from him.

"You honor me? Honor me with what? Titles in your army that I earned?"

"I would wed you, forge an alliance between our houses!" He said.

"Stop being so blind! The only fool here is you! Your cousin King Amroth is dead, and my grandmother usurped the throne that is yours by right. Yet you count me a fool for not desiring a stolen crown, and not wanting to wed you in the midst of a scandal?" She stood and looked at him. "I pitty you that you would think me so similar to Galadriel. That I am so desperate for a Queendom that I would forsake the people dearest to me in their most desperate time so that I might call myself more than Captain. I am a Princess of the Noldor, kin to mighty Kings. I have a valley full of elves I could rule, cities across the sea that are mine, but I chose our people, my family, here in Green Wood, and to lay aside titles for duty. If I desired such, I would name myself High Queen and be done with it."

"Unede that is not what I-"

"Not what you meant Legolas? My dearest friends are dead, and you accuse me of disloyalty." She said hastily.

"Friends Unede? Never have you even mentioned their names. You knew Amroth and Nimrodel for little more than eighty years?" He stood now too and met her gaze hotly.

"Eighty years? Can the dearest friends be counted in years and decades and days? Do you think them so distant that they were not important? They were my dearest friends. They were the only thing that kept me from fading as a child. And now Amroth is drowned and Nimrodel is dead, and my life might be ripped away for the sake of gentle politics. I am nothing but a pawn in this situation."

Legolas found himself cold as he watched her, and she saw half her words wash over him as he stood with a clinched jaw and tight fists. "I thought I was your dearest friend." He whispered into the silent kitchen.

"You are my lover."

"Aye, your lover but not your mate, not when you have made it so clear that you would never wear my family's crown on your head, and not when taking you as my wife would mean kinship between our Kingdom and the Noldor and quell the tongues that say usurper. You deny me. You fear leadership, and responsibility, and the duty of your noble blood." He said coldly, making clear the heaviness his heart felt for her absence of desire to be his wife.

"I cannot put our people in the position to be without an heir." She raised her voice and glared darkly at him, as the tears came afresh to her face.

"Then why would you leave Lothlorien without one? For now they have neither you, nor our children? Those wood-elves are my people, they belong to my heart too, and yet you would leave them heirless too! And out of what allegiance?" He spat, contempt filling his voice.

"You are making the same decisions! If you want Lothlorien to have an heir, then go there and be their King and wed a lady who wont die in battle! Let her give you little princes to rule!" She yelled into the kitchen and threw her hands in the air.

Legolas placed his hands on the table and took a seat. Unede was suddenly reminded of Thranduil as his hair fell around his face and a shadow covered his eyes.

"Galadriel did not choose to lead Lorien out of kindness or mercy. She has long desired a forest to rule and now she has one. She found opportunity in their despair, and in Mirkwoods weakness. She is nothing more than a vulture." Her words hit him hard. He had not realized the deliberacy of Galadriels actions, nor the closeness Unede had with the King and his lover Nimrodel. His chest heaved and suddenly the burden and anxiety that her fea carried wash over him. How could he have been so careless, so focused on his own burdens that he did not see the treacherous decisions that plagued her.

"Unede you are right, right in so many ways. Forgive me, my father and I were forced into many decisions we did not wish to make. We have decided to allow Galadriel to lead Lothlorien under the title of Lady. You know as well as I that if I became their Prince, or went there to rule, all our people would expect the Golden Wood to attack Dol Guldur from the south and protect their Kin. The elves of Mirkwood expected it when my first cousin was the King. But it would be foolish and folly, it would mean fewer resources and more deaths, and we have failed once before, how can we ask that of our people a second time? Already we are spread so thin." He was quiet for a moment and then said. "And your right, you are a pawn in all of this, and I did not mean nor desire for you to be."

"I desire only to bring peace to our people." She whispered and drew closer, and took a seat next to him at the table.

"I know." Legolas replied and placed a gentle kiss on her head. "I know." But at his words she collapsed again into tears and gripped his hands and said.

"Nimrodel delayed so long, it pained them both to be without the other while they waited for peace. What if we delay for nothing? What if I am a fool in this too?"

"Our decision is wise Unede. For my fea has neither your strength nor my fathers. If my wife fell in battle then, surely, I would fade. Then what would Green Wood come to? We are not fools but martrys. Such is the burden of a crown and you are wise not to take it."

"Legolas." She whispered into his chest. "Legolas, I will make this right. We must be patient. The council would have us make a rash decision, but sometimes the best strategy is to wait, and bide our time."

"What do you mean?" He said taking her hands in his.

"What consequences would we face if I did not journey south, what detriments would we face if we were not betrothed in the spring? There is more at play here than land, and Ladies and Lords. Galadriel asked for me as an offering of peace and forgiveness, not as a slight to the King."

"But does she not desire to rule as you said."

"Aye she does, but she is not foolish in this act. Galadriel would not want water with the King. She will lay low, hide with her ring, and protect the forest and its people." Unede breathed. "Someone wants our families to distrust one another, someone wants us to be at odds, and to make rash decisions. Decisions which bring harm to me, and to our people if we miscalculate."

"Daeron." Legolas muttered and clenched his fists.

"Aye, Daeron."


	34. A Cousins Keen Ears

Fall 2063:

The door slapped shut, and soft thumps of paints and canvas clattering to the ground awoke Unede with a start. She let out a little moan as the elleths pulled back the curtains, and light flooded the room. The door opened and closed again, and she heard Miriels sweet voice talking quietly to the healer, and felt new hands come to her hair to untangle it.

"Leave me be." She said groggily, lifting a heavy arm and waving it towards the ladies behind her.

"Stop fussing." Amarie sister said.

"It's been half a fortnight, she is well enough for a short walk. I know not what words Mithrander lay on her but she has slept and slept, and her cut has healed faster than before." The healers soft voice drifted across the room to Unede's ears. Had she been asleep for that long? Her rest had been long and dreamless and she felt solemn and sad, but no longer wished for death.

"She needs to get out of this room." Miriel professed.

"We are taking her to the garden's to paint." Anaire said

"The tree's miss her, they will be asleep for winter soon, let her at least come to say goodwinter." Amarie protested

"Yes, we shant let her bleed all over the palace like last time." Miriel snorted.

But the healer watched her patient nervously, as she lay unmoving on the bed with her arms thrown over her face to shield her from the sun.

"It could be good for her." Elenwe said quietly to the trio. "To get out and move and see the trees."

"Of course it will be." Miriel said and walked to the bed. She pulled back the covers and her cousin moaned and rolled to her side as Miriel shook her gently. "Come on Unede, we are all going out together. The trees miss you. It shall be good for your spirit. Up up." She said and pulled her cousin to a sitting position and forced a fresh tunic over her tangled hair. Unede looked to the healer who gave her an encouraging nod. She frowned and nodded but stood up and slipped on her cloth shoes, and looked silently at her friends.

"All right then." She said hoarsely. The sister's giggled and Miriel took her hands and led her out of the door and towards the gardens where the trees and flowers awaited.

She hadn't spoken much as she sat on the stone bench. The trio had chattered around her, and the birds tweeted in the morning sun, and before she knew it a brush and palette had been put in her hands, and a blank canvas sat in front of her. She painted silently trying to lose herself in the whispering of the leaves in the winds, and the bowing of branches to tickle her neck with their twigs. Try as she might to be sad, the tree's teasing got the better of her, and a soft smile found its way to her lips.

"There you are my friend, looking a little better already." Anaire said as she joined Unede on the bench. "A little sunlight always does the heart good." Unede squeezed her friends hand did not speak, and added a bit of color to her canvas.

The sun set, and rose and set again, and for four days the trio fetched Unede from the healing halls, and brought her to the gardens, and let her sit silently in the amber light of fall, hoping that it would bring some joy to her spirit. But Miriel knew better, she knew her cousin could hold her tongue and suffer in quiet solitude. She had always been stubborn in such things, to a fault sometimes, she never wanted her warriors to see her nervous or fearful. In battle she was told that Unede was cold and calm and fearsome, a different elf to the jolly baker she knew back home. But such were the complicated lives of the woodland folk. Miriel knew the duality of her being had always plagued her cousin. So Miriel decided that the best way to help her cousins fea heal was to make her speak, a little at least, until she would do so without protest. Then perhaps her heart could feel a little lighter. But what to say, what curl to twist to wring loose Unedes tongue? Then it came to her and Miriel smiled.

"The Prince is furious you know." She said giving Unede a sly s mile. The sister's looked over their canvas's at Miriel with wide worried eyes. But Unede did not stir.

"I know it is so." She said solemnly.

"Oh." Miriel looking at the sisters across from her, and silently begging them to prod her a little more. Anaire and Amarie looked desperately at each other and bit their lips and begged the tree's for an answer. But Unede sat silently in her despair, unfazed by her companies provocations. Finally Anaire's eyes lit up and she smiled at her sister.

"Honestly, we all thought that cob would have you courting, even if it was lumpy and stale the first time you gave it to him." She winked at Miriel, as Unede moved uncomfortable on her bench.

"Well alas, your plans were thwarted by many ill fortunes." She muttered and dabbed her brush a little to forcefully into the green on her palette.

"I do not think the fortune as been so ill, for at least now that peace has come the Kingdom has a wedding to delight in." Amarie said and smiled mischievously behind her canvas.

Unede sighed and said calmly "If he is as furious as Miriel says, then he will never see me again, so perhaps you should use your bread and tarts to look elsewhere for a wedding."

"Oh for the sake of the valar." Miriel said throwing her hands in the air. "Are you not the one who turns him away? Of course he is mad, mad with worry! We laid a perfect plan at your feet for happiness, and all you have done is kick a cob about, and sneak kisses after the fire circles. Oh and do not think we don't know about those nights you spend together on watch. My brother tells us everything."

"Aye he does." Anaire spoke up quickly. "And we know that you wear the Queens jewel."

"We even know you put in a request for the same leave schedule. We have spies Unede, you can sneak about all you want but we know you love him."

Unede watched the ground, and did not stir at their words. She knew they meant to spring her tongue free and make her speak from frustration. Miriel had always been good at knowing just what to say to get her to talk. Perhaps though some words could silence her friends, but how could she find them, what would she say to those who only wanted to see her happy? And what did they mean the Queens jewel? Her hands froze in her lap, and she nearly broke the brush she was holding, surely it was only a mere trinket she wore around her neck, a brown plain stone, worthless save for the silver. She had always thought Legolas gave it to her as a token of affection, for she had no love for bright gems and complex crowns.

"Legolas is the crown Prince. The only heir to our great kingdom." Unede said quietly, repeating the excuse she had burned into her mind, a mantra she repeated over and over. So often, in fact, that she had nearly convinced herself it was true even after the watchful peace had come, even after she had survived the only excuse that had kept them apart for two thousand years. "If I fell in battle surely he would fade, it would be gravely irresponsible of me to put our kingdom in such danger. To leave us heirless." Her hand came to her breast where the necklace lay, and it seemed to burn her skin, despite how the cold that had set into her fingers.

"Oh." Miriel said slowly. But she watched her cousin, watched her fingers trace the spun silver that sat on her neck. "Oh you did not think we knew about the necklace."

"Tis but a trinket." She whispered to her friends. "A…" she started again. Then recalled the Princes words 'I am but a leaf on its mighty branches'.

"Unede…" Amarie whispered taking her friends hand. "All of Mirkwood knows that stone. His Majesty gave it to the Queen when Legolas was born."

"Aye."Anaire said. "And Legolas was the first leaf on her great and mighty tree. The Oak Queen His Majesty called her, for she was steadfast and strong. She was the roots that kept us all grounded, kept us from withering and blowing away in the wind, during the great war."

Unede felt a cold run through her, all this time she had worn the jewel, and she did not know its meaning. How could she have been so naive? She had seen paintings and carvings of the Queens likeness, seen her plain jewels strung with silver acorns and dotted with clear brown stones. She had always thought the crown resembled the flourishing oak tree. She had heard the tales of the Queen before she sailed. Yes, she thought, The Oak Queen, strong and steadfast, and flourishing. She gave I curse, and pursed her lips, and took her hand back from Amarie.

She lost her breath, and her hands ran cold. Surely Legolas did not think _she_ was of the same ilk. She was but the vessel the valar worked through, the hand that held the sword. She was not a great tree that nourished the forest, her roots did not give life to others, and sustain their being. Her duty was only to nourish that great tree, not to _be_ it.

"Miriel, some things are not about love." She pressed her brush to the canvas in short strokes as clouds drifted lazily over the sun, and the tree's shuttered in frustration around them. Unede began again with anger in her voice. "I have to think about the consequences of my actions, and the consequences that an alliance of my house and his. You have never had to worry about more than your garden and your weaving. You haven't the slightest idea what the burden of a crown feels like, you have not toiled as I have. Nor have you seen Legolas worry and fret into the long hours of the night! You think I want that burden? You think I would gladly take it? Already Thranduil asks me to speak with the white council, and burdens me with duty when I am not yet healed! There are wolves all around me and I am called a traitor. How much more would you have me carry, when already I am bent."

"Oh the white council does not head our words, we needn't toil ourselves with them anyhow." Miriel said competitively.

"That is exactly why we should toil ourselves with them, because how else will we know the news they bear. We have enemies, and I shan't make more of them for love."

"Listen to her! By all that is good, she speaks so much sense I think she has lost her mind! Did you not come here out of duty and devotion? Well I say stop it Unede, you are being utterly ridiculous." Amarie whispered in awe of the stubborn wisdom before her. "You did not give up anything. Step away from your self pitty and despair, for we all tire of it! There is but one who says usurper and traitor in these woods, and you needn't bother with him anyhow."

"Aye throw him in the dungeons!" Anaire said with more enthusiasm than she meant.

"So stop acting as though you are not the strength that supports Mirkwood." Amarie continued "We all look to you, and celebrate you. What a pitty it is that you would deny our celebrations. A shame really, for your exactly the kind of Princess the elves need, Noldor or otherwise."

Unede looked at her, and her cheeks flushed, and the tree's tickled her excitedly with their twigs. Am I really meant to be High Queen, she thought. What kind of Queen would she be when the time came? What kind of Princess did she want to be now? The King had reminded her only two weeks before that Imladris offered no aide, and Lothlorien answered their calls with only silence. Mithrandir brought word of the white council to them in secret, and the council Thranduil gave them was only in letters.

She wondered if all her fears of seclusion had come true while she bore a sword and shield in the forest. She wondered if she could sooth Legolas on those long nights when his heart was stricken with worry, and his neck bent over scrolls for the seasons trade. Then she remembered the wizards words and wondered if she had been a fool all along. Perhaps she deserved a little happiness during this watchful peace. It was with the quiet fall winds, that she began to feel her heart change a little bit, and she remembered the warmth her heart felt when he would come to meet her in on a flet under a canvas for tea and bread, even on the coldest nights, when there was no hope for dawn.

Those short hours of warmth and joy unburdened by the chaos that lay round them gave her strength for the days that came. She knew then that in her heart she carried grief. Grief that she would not forget. Then she found herself at a crossroads; would she let the grief darken her heart, or would she let teach her wisdom. Wisdom to care for her people, wisdom to care for her Prince. Yes, she had been a fool she realized, but perhaps now she could be a fool in love.


	35. A Letter on the Wind

January T.A. 1982

She had read the letter a thousand times, thrown half written parchments into the fire, and re-written lines again and again. She looked at the draft in her hand and let her fingers trace the words before her. When, she thought desperately, when had her life become a series of frantic letters? When had realms and war and love been reliant on ink and paper? She paced the room until the candles burned low, then folded the letter, sealed it with wax, and marched it to the aviary to find the fastest bird in the lofts. She could risk no messenger, her letter must arrive before the Kings.

As she slipped through the dark winding halls, her mind raced. Would she be forced to go to Lorien? Would her plan work? Would the King claim her disloyal for the trouble her family was causing and throw her in the dungeons or keep her locked in his halls as a punishment to Galadriel? And if all went well would Elrond let her within a thousand leagues of Imlardris? War, she thought, that is what court is. And War she was good at, war was strategy.

So, she had written a letter for Galadriel, and she had hoped that the bitter cords that cut the elven kingdoms apart would keep her words from reaching both the elven lords of Rivendel and Eryn Galen. She hoped too, that Galadriel, in all her wisdom, would see clearly enough that she should keep quiet. She only had to buy a few decades of confusion. Then it would not matter- for she would be either dead or wed, and her mind was bent towards the former. This letter, this paper and ink, would let her stay here, and would keep Eryn Galen from striking swords with Lorien. Words would keep her grandmother from angering a swift King, and distance would keep Rivendel from calling her a traitor.

Her heart ached as she tied the letter to the bird. There was no right she could do here. Eryn Galen needed strength in the South to have a chance at keeping the darkness from further infiltrating the forest, they needed an ally when the time came to strike Dol Guldur. At the very least they needed to prevent war with Galadriel. Peace, she thought, peace was better than battle- even if it was a tumultuous, and false peace. She shivered as the bird preened its feathers and prepared for flight. If Elrond knew of this letter, he might think the golden wood and the green wood in cahoots- that the house of Finarfin was at odds with that of Fingolfin. An interpretation that might lead him to think she herself might move to rule Rivendel, that she would desire to be the High Queen of all the elves. She pursed her lips and cursed. Were empty threats, and risks of feuds worth a few decades of love? Was the anger of Elrond and Galardiel, or the risk of a kin slaying worth the chance to fight Sauron, to drive him from this land?

She sighed and lay a hand on the bird. She would risk anything if it meant safety for Greenwood. She would Crown herself High Queen, and force Galadriel to send the silvan elves of Lothlorien to help Greenwood if it meant her people survived. Her cheeks burned, curse Elrond, he was her steward, his feeling were irrelevant. His banishment over a green stone, and a grudge were inconsequential. He should send all the wondering companies to her aide if she so asked. Unede shook her head and gave a pat to the bird and decided two things; that peace now was worth the consequence she would face later, and that she would trust Galadriel to name her self a lady, and lay low. Trust her to come to Eryn Galen if there was ever a need..

So she released the bird in the night and the letter had went on the wings of a great falcon, who soared silently above the forest, and rode the winds a hundred leagues south. The bird spiraled down through clouds, and cut its way through mallorn branches and landed at last on the bannister of a high talan. Its bright yellow eyes looked quietly at the onyx haired elf below him, and then fell onto the Lady clad in white that drank tea, and rested on soft linens in the afternoons sun. The falcon lay the letter at her ancient feet with a gentle bow, and she clutched it in her hands and smiled as she traced seal of the house of Finarfin.

Lady Galadriel cracked the wax and looked at the delicate scrawl before her, and her heart wept, for she missed her eldest grandchild dearly, and wished to sit with her a while and to speak with her for a time. But Itarildes mind had been hard to know, she was as mysterious as the Kings mountain halls, and no more did Galadriel know Itarildes thoughts, than she knew the Valars. Her granddaughter had worn her hurt as a shield, and it had manifested in silence and distance and swords.

Dearest Grandmother, the letter read,

I have hope that this letter will reach you before the messenger of King Thranduil comes to your woods. So then, I will tell you of the decisions the King has made, and those that I have made, though they are not unalike.

His Majesties heart mourns at the loss of his kin King Amroth, and he wishes to comfort the Silvan elves that now lie in your care. Many are of that mind that they deserve the stability and protection that his crown has to offer. But the King must protect his own, for alas, a shadow grows in the south, and we must be ever vigilant and ever watchful from all sides of its reach. But, and especially, in the north.

Therefore, I shall offer these words to you, for do not think that I am disloyal to our family and our people. There are some here in Eryn Galen who call you usurper, and wish for your espousal from the Golden Wood. You must know that it is only by good fortune, and my words in the ear of The King, that you have come to lead our southern kin without their swift rebuttal of swords.

So I tell you this, you will lead the Lothlorien as their Lady, and no more. And also that you will give the Kings messenger a letter withdrawing your call for me to travel south to you, and offer me instead to the service of His Majesty the King as a sign of goodwill to him.

Finally, you will remember that I am your rightful Queen, and one day I will rise to this title and be more than a Captain in a far green forest. On that day should we need aide, I would ask that you meet our call for it. For the silvan elves are said to be more dangerous, and less wise, and they are ever loyal to their Sindar Kings.

Unede

A warning, Galadriel thought as she tipped her head and reread the letter. She had ended the letter with a warning. The lady realized then how little she knew her kin, but she was proud, for this child was strong, and keen, and she had heard the stories of her valor. Yes, Galadriel knew that Mirkwood did not have the strength to protect Lothlorien. Her actions to take this land had indeed been strategic, and her Granddaughter saw through her movements, yet had wisely used them for their mutual benefit. But would she aide the northern Kingdom when they called? She did not yet know.

She glanced up that the ellon who sat across from her eyeing the seal on the letter in her hand. Surely Elrohir would bring some word of their correspondence to his Uncle. Galadriel gave a gentle smile to her young Grandson, and tried to hide the despair that lurched in her heart.

She knew Elrond ached for power, that his stewardship of the Noldor sat bitterly on his shoulders. Her son in law had wanted Unede to sail, for her strength to fade into a distant memory, so that he could be seen as wise and strong. So that one day he could be High King. Between the words on the page Galadriel sensed more connection to the King that Unede let on- and her mind and heart flickered with a sense of desperation that lay within the ink. Unede wished stay in Green Wood for more than swords and duty- she had found love- and if Galadriel read the words on the page right- her position would make it look to Lord Elrond that she had made a strategic alliance. One which would now, after the ascension of herself as the Lady of Lothlorien, put Unede in line to be looked to as a leader of elvendom, and threaten his desires to ascend in rank.


	36. A Snake in the Shadows

Thank you for reading a Golden Dawn, and much thanks you all the recent reviews! My heart sings! I know it can be confusing at times, this was really a fun experiment to see how something like this would work in fanfiction form, but I hope the next 9 chapters bring everything to a close. Following the completion here, I will post the same story, but in chronological order. Cheers UM

Fall of 2065 The night as of An Uncertain Evening/A Princess in Their Midst.

The deep dark of the evening had settled into the valley. The sliver of the fall moon made the homely house glitter in its pale light and it seemed to blend into the hills and crests of the rivers mountain fold as if it were a part of the great ancient cleft. Its presence was given away only by the orange fires that flickered in the windows of the great hall. Tonight, the messenger realized, was the fall feast for these elves, he had timed it perfectly, for few eyes would be on him when he entered the city. He pulled his cloak tighter about his shoulders and peered behind him, hoping he had not been followed, that he had not been seen in the black of the night by unwelcome eyes.

He moved down the path towards the valley, and came at last to the bridge that led into Imladris and he bowed deeply to the guards who stood silently before him. They watched the hooded figure, and he showed the soldiers his empty hands, a message of peace, then drew back his hood.

"I am Lord Daeron of the woodland realm." He said lifting his head higher, trying to seem of greater importance. He looked down his nose at the soldiers and sneered. "I have come to see your Lord Elrond, I bear matters of great importance."

The guards glanced at each other and whispered swiftly in a tongue the horseman did not recognize. After a moment the guards looked to him again and spoke.

"Were you sent by his majesty King Thranduil?" One said, stepping forward and gripping the hilt of his sword a little tighter. The action did not go unnoticed by Daeron.

"I sit on the council of his majesty, and my message has need for silence and swiftness. Take me to your lord." He said quickly.

The elves hesitated at first contemplating the words the messenger brought, for an unease was upon them. The did not wish, however, to send away a Kings messenger, especially so if he bore important words for their lord. Therefore, the guards lead him forward, across the bridge and through the quiet corridors of Imladris. So it was that the messenger slipped into the city unseen, for all of the elves celebrated and feasted for the fall celebrations and the coming of winter, and Daeron's kin knew not of his presence in the homely city.

The Noldor guards placed the wood elf in the chamber of the Lord Elrond, and gave him food and drink and bid him wait. And so, he did, and as he waited his mood darkened and the miles he had traveled set into his skin and filled his hollow bones with weariness. Daeron sat in the shadow and seethed in the hate and grief that flowed through his veins. He Let the lies and trickery that had deceived his King nourish his resentment. At last, he thought, at last the wrongs against his house, against his people would be righted. All the Noldor had ever done to his people was slay and ravage them and now they sought to rule. Their greed unquenchable, their lust for power always unfulfilled. And now the time had come to expose her for what she was.

When at last Lord Elrond came Daeron shot from his seat and bent into a low bow and a muttered 'my Lord'. He hardly dared to make eye contact with the ancient elf before him, and felt the eyes of the wise one burning into his person.

"You come to me in secret and silence carrying words from his Majesty." Lord Elrond spoke slowly. "Tell me, what have you come here for Lord Daeron."

Daeron felt the words sink into him and rattle his weary bones. His mind raced and he could not think of where to begin in all the treachery that he had seen. How could he make Lord Elrond understand what had happened through the ages. He tried to stifle his swift thoughts, but then at last he settled and spoke.

"My Lord, I come not from the King, but from my own choice. For your niece carries an ill will, and desires much power. I fear for ruin, and terror should she reign as she aspires to. I have come to tell you that she is a traitor to the Noldor and the wood elves alike, and means usurp the crown of the Silvan elves. Itarilde is a murderer, with blood of eldar on her hands. She deserves no crown, nor glory. She should be banished, sent off into the night to drown and walk the halls of mandos. She is no better than the dark beasts of this earth, and yet calls herself Princess, and desires to be a Queen by any means."

Lord Elrond watched the elf before him, and listened carefully, for the messenger had much hate and hurt in his heart, and this was plain on his tongue. Yet, the Lord thought, his words rang true. Unede was a thief, a traitor, and for many centuries he had thought that her actions were for more gain than she let on. Had she not stolen the gift of Yavanna, the Elfstone and betrayed the trust of her Grandmother? Perhaps it was she who whispered lies into the ear of King Thranduil, and turned his heart against the White Council. Perhaps the seeds of discourse were planted by Unede, to grow in the soil of Dagorlad, and putrefy the already rotting relationship between the elven communities. Oh yes, the old Lord thought, she played a long and patient game. "Speak Daeron, speak plainly and tell me what you have seen. Tell me, does my young niece seek to be High Queen and steal my birth right? Tell me of all that has gone on in your land."

Daeron took another drink and lifted his eyes to Lord Elrond who stood before him bathed in amber fire light. The flames glimmered and slipped about his hair like a terrible crown that left only a hint of the great king he should have been. Then the silvan elf took a deep breath and spoke the to the Lord Elrond his twisted words an age in the making.

"She came," Daeron said, "as a child, barely of her second cycle. She came begging to the gates of the King, having had betrayed the Noldor then and stolen the elfstone. But King Thranduil had seen through her guise, he knew that Unede had meant to sew distrust between the Kingdoms of the Silvan and the Noldor. So his majesty returned the stone, but kept the Noldor's Princess, since her father hailed from his Kingdom it was his right. Often the King of the Woodland realm would keep closest those which brought unease to his heart, for he desired their treachery to be under his eye."

He paused for a moment and began again "Right he was, our King, for it was Unede who had pressed for war in the South when she had been made captain. She who had sent hundreds of eldar to their deaths on the ground when they could have been safe in the trees away from the orcs and evil things. She has taken my own son's life, a kinslaying that should doom her. She sent our armies away from the safety of the mountain to concur some small sorcerer in a broken tower, all to weaken us, as if she knew what would come, as if she knew King Amroth would die. For when word came that the King of Lothlorien had crossed the veil, Itrailde spoke into the King's ear, and twisted his mind to allow her Kin to rule his rightful Kingdom. Did you know the captain sent a letter to Galadriel, a letter saying that she would unite the eldar of middle earth, and that the white lady need only be patient? She has twisted the mind of our King, She means to take Eryn Galen with honey, and to take Imlardis with poison. She give's your men our weapon to undermine your leadership, and turn their loyalties to her. Unede comes here to your land and lies to you, when already you have banished her for such treachery before. Do you not see her spirit is of the same fire as her kin? Do you see she will burn all that we have built and lead us to death and doom so that she might bear a crown over a broken peoples and call it victory? Banish her, slay her, send her away, but let her tarry neither here, nor in our woods. Let her go and find the same fate as her dear friend Nimrodel. Perhaps her name too should be deceiver, and not the morning star."

Elrond watched the silvan elf before him for many minutes. He studied his manner, his arched and tired frame, saw the sadness that settled deep in his fea. Daeron's soul whispered of an old hurt, and a treachery that spanned an eon. Elrond saw to elf's mind race and twist and perceived the shadow that lay upon him.

Then Elronds mind turned to the rug of lies that hung before him. For if what Daeron said was true then Unede had trimmed and tailored colors and patterns that strung into an intricate picture of heroism and victimhood. 'Where was his nieces' heart' he wondered. 'did she wish to be High Queen? Did she wish for more than that? Perhaps it was not her intent that mattered at all, but her actions.'

"She is so lost in her own mind that she knows not the intent of her actions." Elrond muttered. "She is sick with lust for revenge, and war, and has not yet realized that her blood desires more than captainship and King's counsels. It is a dangerous road, to not know one's self."

"Yet that is her intent." Daeron spoke up "She see's that you rule with the authority of High-King, but knows her claim is better, for Galadriel has rights, and The Lady has not refused them. Nay, Galadriel makes claim over Lothlorien, and usurps the title my King deserves. And forgive me Lord Elrond, but are there not those who say that your claim not valid for Idril denied her crown and title. And are there not some who would deny the rule of one who was named only Vice-Regent by Gil-galad?

"Aye, this is so. But few would raise their voice to deny my claim."

"Then why not put an end to this madness." Daeron said desperately. "Name yourself High King, and banish her from elven lands. She will bring death to my people, and already we have had enough. Call Galadriel and the wondering companies here, and give us the lands to the east. End this madness."

Elrond turned to the elf sharply and met his gaze. He felt the desire of Kingship spread from his chest, and flow through his body, and he stood a little taller fueled by the desire to call himself Majesty. But a shadow then came onto him and he felt the eye of an ancient power whisper his name, and the tendrils of darkness creep to him and lick his ankles. "Would I dare to tempt the Dark Lord with that cursed title." He whispered.

"Then let her tempt him. Banish her and let her go and seek him out." Daeron whispered, stepping more closely to the Lord and shrinking a little before his stature. "Let her tempt Sauron, let him slay her and all will be ended. She desires death, give it to her. Name her High Queen, and let him come for her blood. He would come back for her, his spirit is not slew. Let him come, let him come and kill her."

'_fire'_ Lord Elrond thought _'aye her fea was a flame fanned by the winds of history.'_ The ancient elf watched the wood elf before him, then with a wave of his hand dismissed him and slumped into a chair.

'_fire indeed' _the words slithered through his mind, and he recalled the conversation he had with his eldest son only hours before.

'_Those wood elves are naught but trouble father, Unede among them' Elrohir had said in a fury. 'You should be King, You have a better claim through the blood of Thingol! You should rule the elves of middle earth. Gil-Galad united them, and named you his Vice-Regent. Through our mothers blood our claim is strong!'_

'_You think Unede desires to rule my son?' _

'_I think everything she has done is cold and calculated father. She come's into her power now. She is no longer a youth. Look at her, look at the way those elves follow her every move, she is loved, and she knows it, and she is patient. She could claim Queendom over the Silvan, and the Sindar and the Noldor and no one would stop her, not when her fathers blood mingles with ours. Galadriel may even aide her, they are all set against you.' Elrohir insisted stubbornly. "It was all in that letter father-she told Grandmother that she had convinced Thranduil to let her be a Lady, and that one day she would Crown herself. Unede has stated her intent. It is known, and we must stop her. She is a danger to us father both in her desire for our crown, and in her dark spirit- she is to violent to rule."_

'_The elves of Lorien desire a King more than a Lord and Lady, there may yet be more truth to your words than you realize son.' He muttered. _

'_Thranduils claim over Lothlorien was stronger even the Lord Celeborns. Orophir was Amroth's brother.'_

'_You think the King of the Woodland Realm is weak my son?' _

'_Yes I think he is weak, and Unede sits patiently until she is stronger, then She and Grandmother will unite, and we will have no choice but to bend the ancient crowns that will sit atop their heads!' Elrohir pounded the table before him. 'We should use her father, use her and be rid of her. I am your son, You should be High King! You should rule the elves of Middle-Earth, and I am your rightful heir.'_

"_Speak plainly son." _

"_Wed her to some small Lord here, get her away from the ear of the King, and the temptation to destroy some small necromancer- it will lead us all to ruin and doom. You have heard the words of The White Wizard father, we have nothing to fear from sorcerers and shadows. Her campaign is a farce." Elrohir shook his head and turned fiercely to his father. "We must make our move before she does. Think of the great cities we could build like the days of old, the elves could thrive again, our time is not yet done. We need only be bold father. We needs a wise leader."_

Elrond shook the thought away and stared into the flames as the stars moved across the sky above him. And so it was that his guards found him, and bid him come to his Nieces chambers, for they had, apparently, another unexpected guest.


	37. A Cousins Keen Eyes

Fall of 2065: The morning after the fall feast: following A Snake in the Shadows, An Uncertain Evening, and An Uncle Unamused

The morning came cool and quiet. The crisp air glittered in the spray of the waterfalls, and when the orange morning light caught the mist it cast a hazy glow on the valley.

Elladan found his cousin sitting on a ledge watching the sun rise and light the valley, a sight he had taken for granted most of his life. Her guards eyed him warily, and he noted they had clad themselves again in their dark leathers, and thin maille. They did not stop him though when he approached her and took a seat on the ledge to gaze down on Imladris.

"You did not sleep?" He breathed and lay a hand on her shoulder. She shook her head, and did not look at the twin though he tried to offer her comfort.

"My brother tipped arrows in the poison, it has felled many a stray beast swiftly." He said. This time she nodded, this he was sure was not news to her.

"The wasps have taken up residence in the hives too. We expect a steady enough supply. Your people have taught us well." Another nod came at his words. And they were quiet again, with only the sound of water echoing through the valley to fill the silence. When he spoke again the sun had peaked over the mountain, and the first stirring of elves far below had begun.

"I heard tell of the dinner last night." He had not been there, though she had looked for a familiar face. Elladan and Rumil alone she trusted in this vast city, and still she did not trust them with the whole truth. "Mahtan has quiet the voice for song." Her faced clinched at his words and he knew the topic was unwelcome, but he did not heed her desire for silence. "I expect you'll toss him in the dungeon for while eh." This time she did not react, and her face was long and sad, and he recognized the quiet desperation in her fea. He thought perhaps it was best to change the subject.

"It's true then, that you drove out the necromancer from Dol Guldur." His voice was quiet again, and he put his hand back on her shoulder.

"Sauron." She muttered. Finally, he had gotten her to speak. He wondered how far he had to press to keep her talking. He remembered the first time he met his Cousin. He had always heard rumors that she had gone to live with the wood elves, and had taken up arms in her fathers name. Whispers of her valor had come and gone through summers as they traded silks and wine. Their first meeting had been unexpected though, a chance encounter when Elladan had been assigned to accompany an envoy laden with silks long ago. He was young and eager then, and the thought of traveling the great road east, and sailing down the Anduin made his limbs buzz with excitement. When he saw her at the Old Ford he knew her, he knew without having to ask. Her gold hair, though bound in a braid, glinted like fine wheat in the summer sun. She was tall, and her limbs strong and fair, and she went as light as a linden leaf as she moved. She echoed their grandmother, and the woods whispered through her. They had exchanged pleasantries and laughed and had gotten along well in the few days they camped together on the river. He saw then why she had not sailed, but they had not met again in many years as trade soon ceased between the elven realms, for the law of kings did not abide the bonds of blood.

"Aye, Sauron. Father is to thick to see it though."

"And your mother?" She asked.

"Is not on the council, her words are unheard and unheeded." He said.

Unede hmphed and shifted in her seat.

"Thank you for coming and for answering my call for aide. It was brave of you." He said, realizing she had met no gratitude here yet, and perhaps it would lessen the blow that was his next inquiry. "Unede, there are things you must know, things that are important." She watched him, and he knew that in her heart she already understood the weight is words carried. "It is my belief that my father desires to be High King, he sees Thranduils neglect to rule Lorien as weakness, and he sees you as a threat to his claim. He means to use you."

"I know this." She said quietly. "He wants to see me dead or wed to some small lord, to have me formally renounce my title, so that he can be High King of the Noldor, and unite the wondering companies and perhaps take Lorien too. Yet there are other's see his lack of claim as wisdom, a tact that keeps him from drawing that dark eye. In truth, His wisdom is patience, as is mine."

"What will you do?" He whispered.

But she smiled gently at him, and took his hand in hers and gave a little snort. "Nothing. I will do nothing. Because there is nothing to do. I think you knew that when you sent me that letter. I think you are better than your fathers schemes. I think we both desire the same things."

"What do you desire?" He said taking her hand gently in hers.

"Peace, Elladan, peace and quiet. And to hide our people from Sauron until the need for secrecy has passed." She whispered so quietly he could hardly hear it. "But I fear your father desires victory."

"Are they so different." The twin clinched his brows together.

"It is the most important of differences. Victors care very little for the comfort of the commoner, so long as a crown rests on their heads."

"And do you not want a crown on your head? Is it not your birthright you desire?" Elladan pryed.

Unede shrugged and gave him a gentle smile. "Any action that I take would be only for the safety of my people. I do not wish for the burden of a crown, I wish not for titles, nor riches nor jewels, and I haven't the strength in me now to rule over a peoples the way the Noldor now require. But there may be a time when that title is needed- when a High Queen of the Noldor will be an asset, a tool, a strategy. For no other purpose would I bear that cursed name."

Elladan nodded and was glad she knew he had truly needed the aide he asked for, and too that she was not this creature that his father thought her to be, for he sensed her heart was pure. He sat quietly with her again as the sun rose higher and glinted off the peaks. Then he realized, she had changed. Her voice, her walk, her very aura. She was so different from the elf he once knew, and at last he understood why she was not worried about Elronds scheming to pair her off and make her sail.

"Can I ask you a question." She shrugged, and watched the elves toil on the streets, and gather eggs from caged chickens, and add wood to the bread ovens. The routine of the morning soothed to her troubled mind, and she realized she missed her own morning rituals. "Why do you sit here guarded by half a dozen warriors, while your Princess is alone gathering herbs on the mountainside?"

She smiled at his words and gave a breathy laugh. "Is the valley unsafe?" She asked nudging him gentle. He did not respond, and instead took her hand and sat with her quietly for a time, waiting for her to speak the next words. "I always knew were the cleverest of our family." She said at last.

He let out laugh and said. "Father is always too busy for subtilties. Dare I say your stunt brought him to his wits end. He took a tea, and found some rest just as the sun came up. I expect he will rise soon, and we should be prepared for a meeting with him."

"This is all my fault. I should have never come. I thought if I came it would bring good will."

"I should have not asked for aide; I would not have if I knew you would be held here." He said and shrugged. "Father just wants to keep his family safe. We will get you home and back to your mate, we need only be patient."

"The King is an impatient elf." She said, and they were quiet again and she said at last. "Everyone must think me a traitor, to have gone to Eryn Galen, and not returned to Lothlorien to be Grandmothers heir. Now I am wed to a Prince, and riding to a valley I was banished from."

"No one thinks you a traitor dear cousin." He said giving her hand a squeeze. "A uniter perhaps, a healer of the woods, a kind soul, a strong elleth. All things a Princess should be. You will be a good Queen cousin. I would follow you." And she smiled at his words, and he spoke again. "Perhaps I should write to King Thranduil and explain. Let his majesty know you have an ally here."

"No Elladan, there are letter's enough flying around. I do not need patience, but haste. We need to leave now, this very moment, while The Lord of your house is asleep." She stood up and moved quickly across the balcony, while her cousin scrambled behind. This was her only chance she thought desperately in a swift change of plans. If she did not leave now, they may find an army at their door, and that bode not good. They had to flee, flee and meet Thranduil on the road. She gave quick instructions to one of the guards to go and find Elenwe, and to meet the company in the stables where they would prepare the horses.

"Unede, there is no need for such a haste, let us talk to my Father, we can surely sway him to let you leave in the summer." Elladan said quickly, as he followed her down the hall trying to keep pace with her steps.

"There are more pieces at work than you realize Elladan. We must make haste and take leave with out delay."

She slipped into her chambers and found the rest of the guard slinging packs over their shoulders and fastening their swords. She followed suit, and left the room swiftly.

"You need food, and supplies." Elladan said, jogging to keep up with her strides.

"We will make due." She said and rushed down the steps behind the warriors. The elves of Imladris parted, and clutched their robes, and parcels, and gasped as the wood elves strode briskly past. But Unede paid them no mind. "We have a chance of escape, it is best if we take our leave without notice."

They turned down another stair and made their way down the hill of the open hall, heading towards the stables lower on the cliffs. Faster they went, with no regard for secrecy of flight, but by the time they reached the edge of the city a host of Rivendell Guard stood before the stables.

"Let us pass." Unede called out "You have no right to keep us here." But the guard did not heed her cry, and stood silent baring the doors.

Elladan watched her desperately. And Unede fought back the panic as she recalled the first kinslaying, and the doom it had brought to so many. But her thoughts came to a sharp stop, as the crisp high call of a horn pierced the morning air, and echoed across the valley. The whole of Imladris seemed to fall to silence, even the river's had muted their musical flow. The elves of Eryn Galen turned, and there on the cliffs above them was a host of wood elves, tucked into tree's and crouching along stony out crops, with bows waiting to be bent. Then across the bridge, in glittering green and gold mail, a hundred guard came forth, and before them on a white stallion came the King of the Woodland Realm, stern and cold- all that he was whispered to be in the hidden valley.


	38. A Fight for Freedom

The Year 2063 After A Battle Long Awaited

The tower was high before her, the slick stone black against the night sky. She had thought it would be quieter, that the silence of knight and duty would wrap around her and give away her every step, but the screams of a dying army echoed up the rocky hills of Dol Goldur, and high cries and zinging arrows filled her ears. There were no elven shouts in these calls though, and for what it was worth their silence was a good sign that her army was safe.

She climbed over rocks and up the hill until she reached the gates, and swiftly she felled the orcs that barred the doors. And pressed her ear to the oaken surface. Surely the gates would be better guarded than this, it would be suicide to enter here, but not even an archere was big enough for her to slip through, and she did not trust the falling rock for foot holds. No, this was the only way into the courtyard where she planned to meet the Dark Lord. But as she looked through the cracks she saw the yards beyond empty of vast armies and knew by the flickering light in a high window that the necromancer awaited her there. Her plans would need to be altered. She cursed Oropher and wondered how well he had made his strong hold. Surely there were layers of protection from a siege should the first doors be breached. She had no memory of this place, for even when she was a child the silvan folk had begun their trek north.

She slipped through the stone walls and gaits of the could city until she reached at last the great doors to the ancient palace that sat crumbling on the hill. Cautiously she pushed the door open and crouched behind it, waiting to hear armor clanking, or the thump of an arrow into the wood, yet no sound came. She peered around the frame, and found a grand entry way, with stairs rising to a high throne, and balconies overlooking the white stone for onlookers to see those who came to their kingdom of old. It's beauty was hidden in crumbing heaps. Oh how the dark ones had wreaked destruction on their glorious castle. Vengeance she reminded herself, she had come for blood and ruin.

But before she could begin her long climb to the high tower the door opened again and she raised her sword, and was met not with the eyes of foe, but friend.

"Mithrandir." She whispered in the darkness. "I thought I saw you walking about in the woods below. Though I was surprised that any from the council headed our letters."

"I urged them to listen to your warning, but alas their eyes and ears lay elsewhere. Are you prepared now to face the foe with me, though we are alone in the endeavor?" The wizard spoke gravely, and raised his gaze towards the high tower.

"I am ready for death." She said gazing on the high stairs before them.

"Do not be so eager to seek it my dear. But let us go and free your forest and see what darkness comes to us when we do it." She nodded at his words, and together they made their way up, and up, past the old ball rooms, and ancient dining halls. Past the musty library, and winding courtly wings. Even long abandoned she felt the ghosts of her ancestors about her in the stone, leading her higher towards doom. She swallowed her fear for them, and tightened her grip on the hilt of her blade.

Then at last they came to the highest tower and the door they met was closed. Yet about the frame a flickering of fire could be seen, and Unede felt a cold creep into her heart despite the heat she felt slipping through the cracks.

"His eye is upon us, I can feel his hatred, and I despair." She whispered to Mithrandir.

"Gather your wits child, and let not your courage flee you." He said and placed his hand on the door and muttered a spell of opening. But still they found their way barred. He tried again, this time lighting his staff, and speaking ancient commands.

"Wait." She said at last and lay her hand on his. "These are the doors of Oprophir, built by ancient elven smiths. Ask more kindly, and they will let all who are not a foe pass. Though I am sure a dark magic has come over them, the wood is not quick to forget the commands of its maker."

Gandalf huffed and nodded at her words, then lay his hands again on the doors, and felt the warmth of a homely house still lingering in their timbers. Then they clicked, and swung slowly open, as if some great force delayed their coming.

There before them on a gleaming black throne sat a man shrouded in shadow. His eyes were aflaim and his hands were bound around a sword. Atop his brow sat a twisted black crown, and he seemed to grow taller as the seconds slipped by them. But Unede watched him flicker, he was weak, weak behind his glamour and his crown. Weak without his ring.

The elf drew herself taller and lifted her chin. She raised her sword and said to the shadowy man "Be gone Sauron, be gone from these woods." Then Sauron rose from his seat and stood before them lifting his black sword high, and his size and stature seemed to grow higher and his shadow filled the room.

"Is this what the great King of the elves has sent. A poisoner, a women, a youth of Middle Earth against a maiar. You know better than he, you see the power that I hold, perhaps too you see the choice before you, I am not a foe." His words slithered through the air to her ears and she watched him move delicately around the room.

"Deceiver indeed." Unede hissed. "Your words hold no power here. I am of the house of Finarfin, long enough have your words tainted the blood of my royal house. But now behold, I am come, and I shall drive you from these halls. Be gone necromancer." And she lifted her silver blade higher as her words echoed in the hollowed halls of Orophir.

But Sauron smiled a black grin and laughed shook his head. Then he lifted his own black sword and met her blade in the air as swift as a leaping flame. She parried his blow, and in the heat of their fight Gandalf drew his sword and brought it down upon Sauron. There in the high halls their blades sang, clashing together in the room heated by Saurons firey malice. Blood and sweat dripped from Unede's brow, but her strength did not leave her.

"Strength of youth you have." Sauron said as be brought a broad strike down against her sword. "But behold the age of the silmarils is over, we have no quarrel you and I. Let us share a dark throne together. I can return to you all that you hold dear, raise your father from the dead, bring back the precious King Orophir to serve at your feet. Still your mothers grieving soul. Free all those in the marshes and make you the Queen of a vast elven army. "

"Hold your tongue." She cried between gasps. Behind their spar Gandalf lifted his sword and staff and spokes a spell, but Sauron cut him down with his own magics, and the wizard fell to the ground held there by some great strength. Then Sauron turned again to Unede, and spoke with words tainted of black magic and she felt her mind bend at his will.

"Hear my words maiden, that I am skilled in smithing far more than your blood. We can steal the light of the moon from the white tree, and fill the stones with the gold of the sun. If it is jewels you seek, then I will crown you and remake the gems you desire."

"I have no desire for stones, nor gems, nor jewels, be gone deceiver!" She cried, but he cut down her blade and grabbed her tunic in a great thrust.

"You are weak, all that Finarfin's house has left to give is an untrained child." He lifted his blade to her neck and she felt her arms grow heavy as if the strain of a thousand years of battle had come over them all at once and she recalled her own Kin Gil-Galad in the grips of Sauron and wept that she was to meet the same fiery end. "This is your heart, malleable and frail… soft with love, an exile of the Noldor, hated by her uncle, fearful of her own name, hiding in the woods so she doesn't have to rule in caves, or crevice's. You are nothing, you were born nothing, and you abandoned the only title that gave you purpose."

"No." She said feeling the blade press into her neck.

"Yes." The deceiver hissed. "And hate dwelleth in your heart too, I see it, use it, use it to take vengeance on the one's who truly deserve it. There are elves who would take your crown. You should take the elven rings and serve me. I will bring you to your full strength. You will have my great armies to lead to raze Middle Earth and rebuild as would please you."

But as Unede's heart turned hard, and her ears were washed in is words and she felt the black temptation fill her fea. But, Mithrnadir lifted his staff again and called out in the name if Eru Iluvatar, and Sauron threw her down and turned to meet the Wizards challenge.

Then Unede saw that Sauron tired, and she lifted her heavy arms and drew her blade along Saurons back spilling is fiery blood. The Deceiver cut the staff from the wizards hand with a great cry, and Gandalf fell again bound against the ancient stone floor. Then at last Unede stood alone, weak from battle, and dark words, and Sauron struck her high. But she feigned to meet his blade in the air and stepped to the side, drawing a dagger stabbing desperately towards weakness in his armor, but he moved quickly and brought his black sword swiftly across her arm, she gasped in pain but parried another blow. His strokes fell again and again, until he reached his black hand towards her. She let him come, let him take her by the mail and lift her high.

But Gandalf gathered the last of his strength and raised his staff once more and spoke the mighty words of banishment, and Unede lay her dagger deep in to the neck of her foe, and he let out a great scream into the night. And as he dropped her, he cut his black blade across her belly, and spilled her blood to the floor. Unede gasped as she met the cold stones and took in desperate gulps of air as she watched her red blood stain the white stone floor. Through blurry eyes she watched the shadow flee out a high window and take leave into the night.

Gandalf scrambled forward to meet Unede where she lay. She reached for his hand but he took her desperately into his arms and pressed hard on her belly as she cried out in pain.

"Breath child, breath, the shadow is gone, help comes. Breath." She took a deep wet breath and tears spilled from her eyes.

"Mithrandir." She whispered as her vision darkened. "Don't let him see me, don't let Legolas see me die. Do not let him fade."

"Hush child, speak not of death, lest it come swifter." He whispered trying to sooth her panic. Already he heard the elven shouts of help below.

"Will you sing to me Mithrandir? Will you sing to me of Nimrodel?" She whispered, and as his song began her vision blurred and darkened, and the healers ran into the room, and a young dark haired elleth lay heavy hands upon the warriors' waist, and pressed herbs to her wounds.

"Unede, you must listen to me, I am Elenwe, you must stay awake and here with me now." But Unede did not heed the words of the healer, and found the soft golden dawn crest through the windows on the edges of her vision, and knew that the darkness had gone, and so she let herself slip into the swift sunrise, and heed the cries of the gulls, until at last her feet fell on soft grass and she met a gentle release.


	39. An Unwanted Beginning

Chapter 29 Year 2063 The morning after An Uncommon Courtship, and An Uncommon Beginning

Unede sat up briskly in bed and drew the blade that leaned against the wall. She stilled her breath and listened hard to the dull footsteps that padded through the talan. Legolas wiped his eyes and stretched his arms far above his head, but just as he was about to yawn, a firm hand was set hastily on his mouth and her eyes shot him a steely look of silence. Unede slipped silently across the room and came to rest with her back to the wall, prepared to strike whatever entered.

The wood on the fire shifted, and cupboard doors opened and closed. An egg cracked and the smell of bread met her nostrils. The tinkling of elleth laughter crossed the threshold of the room and she lowered the blade. She looked at Legolas with relief, but her emotions shifted back to panic as a gentle knock came to the wood of her door.

"Your Highness, we've put breakfast on. How do you take your tea?"

Unede's eye's widened and her mouth dropped, she bit her lips clasped her hands on the hilt of the blade. A silent curse fell from her tongue and she strode across the room and began to throw the Prince's clothes toward him.

"You have maids Legolas? And you sent them here? I have seen you dress and make your own breakfast a thousand times. Can we not have a moment of privacy? Honestly. I did not think you were such a spoiled Prince." Her face turned a deep shade of red and her mouth scrunched a pale green. "Get dressed." She mouthed. Legolas could not help but smile at the precarious situation they had found themselves in.

"Those are not my valets." He shrugged and in that moment he made two decisions. The first was to let her realize that these maids were most probably here for her, and the second was to not mention that his boots and cloak sat nestled by her front door, and had likely been observed by the newcomers already. And probably too, they had been tidied and hung in their place.

Another knock came; "Ma'am would you like help dressing?"

Unede threw her head back and let out a silent cry, and pulled on a cotton gown that was draped unceremoniously on the door of her wardrobe.

"No." She said in desperation as both realization and embarrassment flooded over her.

"When did you get ladies maids?" Legolas teased as he pulled his tunic on and smoothed his hair. He rather enjoyed the hue verdant embarrassment that had colored her face.

"Shh!" She placed his hand over his mouth. "I do not have ladies maids. I know not who they are, nor why they are in my house." She said hastily. "Or why you are in my house for that matter."

"We drank a lot of wine last night my love, and I believe we deigned to stir some gossip. This should do as a right beginning." He chuckled and pulled her closer to him, but she pushed him away. Stifled giggles filtered through her wooden door, and she found herself in Legolas's embrace despite her struggle. He kissed her promptly on the head, and opened the door to find three blushing elleths busying themselves about the house. "Just sugar for the tea please." He said taking a seat by the window and finding a cup placed in front of him, before the ladies skittered off to the bedroom.

He watched as Unede stood uncomfortably and the maids teased the knots from her hair and straightened her dress. They pushed her towards the table and lay bread and tea before her, and egg's and fruit came soon after. Legolas ate the food and smiled as the maidens straightened her bed and folded the clothes.

"Ex…excuse me…" Unede said as she stood up from the table. The tea in her hand shook, and she took a step towards the bedroom.

"Sit ma'am, eat your breakfast." Legolas out a snort of laughter and watched the rouge color to Unede's cheeks again.

"Who are you." She said more directly. The women stopped and looked at each other.

"Were your lady's maids of course, if it pleases you." The tallest of them said. "We were informed that you will be on the King's council, and taking up your title, and living in the councilor's quarters of the palace."

Unede stood silently for a moment and watched them all shift in discomfort as she pondered the words of the woman before her.

"I like my tree, and I am of the mind to stay in it." She said shortly, then sat down, drank her tea and took a hasty bite from the bread before her. Legolas bit his lip and looked down, he sipped his tea and tried to hind behind the dainty cup as Unede watched as the ladies looked from each other to him. "What am I missing here."

"I know nothing." He said swiftly.

"Ma'am it is the custom for counselors and any of noble blood, such as yourself, to live in the Palace. His Highness has selected lovely rooms for you, with a garden and a view of the forest." Her voice was high pitched but gentle, and she moved across the room to refill Unede's tea.

Legolas drank deeper and hid his face behind a buttered slice of bread.

"Oh did he now, his Highness picked lovely rooms." She looked pointedly at the Prince before her, who choked a little as he swallowed.

"Aye Ma'am." The shortest of them nodded as she folded the sheets on the bed. "Just a fortnight ago, or so I am told, once it was settled with his Majesty. We've prepared it to your liking best we knew. His Majesty the King asked us to help you prepare today since he saw that you have been up and about and well enough."

She watched the maids skirted about the house. They flung open the windows to let the light in, and placed the crumbs of morning bread on the porch for her birds. But as the room filled with clean air, and light and the sound of the morning song, Unede's face grew darker and darker, and her tree shifted its limbs with her anger.

"I thought it might make your transition to the palace easier if I had a hand in it." He said quietly. "So I picked the chambers, but I didn't know about the ladies maids. Or that they would show up this morning because it really is the most inconvenient timing." She did not speak, as was her usual way, and so Legolas continued. "I was going to take you there to see it today, and help you settle in."

He watched her as her jaw clenched and her lips trembled with anger. Then at last she pushed away her plate and spoke.

"Fine." She whispered. "Tis fine, take me there, let us go and see this room." She stood from the table suddenly, and two of the maids came to her side in a flurry of movement.

"I've got your cloak, and your circlet. Would you like to change your gown?"

"No, I'll wear this." She said waving the ladies off. Their light seemed to dim, and their smiles turned to gentle frowns.

"It's quiet a pretty day outside, all the Ladies will be about, you should look your best if you don't mind me saying." The third said as she riffled through the few gown's that hung in the dusty wardrobe.

Unede closed her eyes and knew they were looking out for her best interests. Her dislike of doting did not fall on them, and they only meant to help. She took a deep breath, she had not anticipated such a change. This should have been gradual, she realized that the Legolas had meant for it to be, he had meant to guide her and help her be comfortable and she felt guilt wash over her had her sudden out burst towards the Prince.

"Call for whoever the tailor is and have them come to my new chamber's this week. Is there someone who handle's my schedule?" She asked the tallest one quietly taking her hand gently in a silent appology. "He has someone who tells him what his day brings each morning." She looked towards Legolas.

"Your chancellor Ma'am, yes you've been assigned one by his Majesty."

"Arrange it with the chancellor then." She said waving her hand, as a maid fastened a belt onto her waste.

"Unede, you don't have to do this." Legolas said. "Please sit, enjoy breakfast, take rest today, already I have pushed much on you. You have won renown and are valiant, and if you need time to heal take it, take the rest you require."

She smiled gently at him and shook her head. "No Legolas, no it is time now. I need neither pity, nor patience. I should not have been so short, you tried to make me comfortable and my temper got the better of me. No, your father is right to send me Ladies and Chancellors, my season as a shield maiden is ended. Now I will be who I was born to be, and I will stand by your side and do all that is required of me, and I for one shall be glad for it, this next season, even though I am fearful of the change it will bring."

Legolas watched her in this moment, for suddenly she seemed anew. He had seen her blood thirsty and cutting through orc flesh, he had seen her swimming in deep pools under the summer sun, and glistening with sweat at noon on a watch. He had seen her bent over maps and ordering armies into battle. He had guarded her as she slept in the treetops covered in blood and dirt. But, he had never seen her noble side. She was brash, and swift, and loyal and strong, and he had worried when his father said that she would come to court. In all the years that he had known her she attended only one dinner in the palace, and only as a favor to her friends. But, suddenly, and without warning, she was standing before him, arranging tailors and having her hair braided, and being adorned in a thin golden circlet, and a belt embroidered with green leaves.

He watched her fall into the role with derision and duty and familiarity, and he reminded himself, that this was as real of a part of her as it was of him. She was noble, she was born to this, and she distained the burden of the role as much as he did. Yet she took it readily and with only a little faltering grace. He was in awe of her, for with little more than a braid and understated adornment she transformed a cotton dress into a Lady to be heeded. Breathless he wondered what a Princess she would make, for already she commanded the room.


	40. A Kings Coming

Fall of 2065 Part 2 of Thranduils coming to Rivendell

As the crisp call of the horn echoed through the glen Elenwe and the rest of the guard stumbled hastily down the stairs to the and found their small company surrounded by Elrond's soldiers and barred from their horses.

Fear washed over her, and she looked from Unede to the guard to Elladan and then at last her eyes fell to the King's Guard that glittered in the morning sun and cast a rainbow of light through the valley. When the shock of the arrival had past, chaos erupted around them, calls of panic filled the streets below. Childrens cries for mother came shrilly, and shouts for friends erupted. Doors slammed shut and families peaked through cracks in curtains. Then the drawing of swords rang in the air and the rattling of soldiers echoed off the canyon walls.

Yet the King sat upon his horse quietly and unmoving. His eyes scanning the high steps for the arrival of the Lord of this valley. Unede realized she had not taken a breath, but she gasped when a hand a strong hand took her arm and pulled her swiftly into the tight group of Rivendells guards, and before she could react she found herself surrounded, and being pulled towards the homely house.

Elenwe screamed, and Mahtan Let out a cry "Release her, you release her now." And he drew his sword swiftly and sprang toward them. But Unede called for him to stop.

"Go to the King, go now, make haste!" She spoke as the guards grip tightened around her arms and pulled her further from her own soldiers.

"This is your fault, you have informed your guard of our coming and stolen her from us. A curse be on your house Elladan son of Elrond." Mahran spat, and strode toward the young lord.

"I have done no such thing, I desired for her to go back home, to her people and her halls, and rule as she might." Elladan sprang forward and grabbed the collar of Mahtan's shirt. "I would not betray her, do not think me corrupt. Always you wood elves are distrustful of outsiders, and now look where it has led us. This will be another kinslaying before the setting of the sun."

Mahtan pushed Elladan hard "Always we are attacked." He pushed the young lord again, and Elladan stumbled. "Always we are mourning, and fearful. Always. Our Princess is as precious to us as the silmarils, and if there need be a kinslaying to have her again than so be it, she is worth any doom I will face from the valar." Then he drew the dagger from his belt and stepped forward.

Elenwe appeared suddenly between them, and slapped the dagger from Mahtan's hand, and it flashed in the morning sun as it bet the ground. "Do as she says, obey her highness, we go to the King. You are over hasty with your blade. You shame our people. Our rulers will know of your actions." She looked up towards the bridge where Thranduil sat upon his horse. "Let us go, get the horses, and we will meet the King on the bridge."

The Lord Elrond stood high on the steps, his guard silent around him. They watched the wood elves below them, staring darkly at the unannounced arrival of a host that the Lord was sure lay hidden all around him. He did not speak, and instead let the morning sun rise enough to fill the canyon, and many minutes went by with the two leaders watched each other and waited for the first move to be made in a dark game of chess.

But they did not have to wait. From the stairs below the platform where the King and his men sat on their mounts came the traveling company. The wood elves guided their horses up the stairs and heaved their thin packs as they scrambled quickly to the top. Elenwe breathed heavily but looked desperately to the King.

Lord Elrond spoke quickly though, before advice could come to Thranduil, and sought eagerly to ease any tension. "It seems we have been caught up, you and I, in misunderstanding between our folks." Thranduils frown deepened. "You brought aide to my people, and I sought only to keep your people safe from the winter winds. To offer them a homely house in the darkest of seasons. Yet I have been deceived. Now here we are, surrounded by your army, and I unarmed, and unready. Will you sack our great city, when already your people come to you freely without my restriction?" Elrond opened his hands wide and looked down at the dozen unkempt elves below him. Thranduil watched panic fill the eyes of his warriors, and sweat beaded down their necks.

"They took her, they took her from us as we fled." Beleg said.

But Elenwe cut in, trying to restrict the hot temper of the guardsman. "We all thought you would be day's away, we meant to flee while Lord Elrond slept and meet you on the road to prevent this siege your majesty." She bowed low, but the King did not look away from the Lord high above him.

"Where is Arinyaelen, where is our morning star?" He spoke at last over the crashing waters. By now the sun had risen high in the sky, and he grew impatient for words and toil. Lord Elrond shifted his weight, and sneered at the King and lifted his hand with its edge facing towards the King. Thranduils frown grew deeper, and his hand moved to the hilt of his blade at the Lords insult. His guard followed suit, and it seemed that the dull bending of bows could be heard from the cliffs that stood above the valley.

"Be on your way Thranduil, I have given you all you desire. I will keep my kin, for she has sins to answer for." He spoke.

The King rode forward briskly and his horses hooved clattered on the ancient stones and he stopped sharply at the edge of the stairway. "You have abandoned your kin, and banished your Princess from her own city. You have abandoned my Kingdom in our time of need when we faced doom in the south. And now you seek to imprison Arinyaelen for bringing you aide. Yet, she does not answer to you. She is of my forest. She is my kin, my child, my daughter, my charge to keep safe. Bring her forth, I do not wish have my house doomed as yours is, for the valar do not smile on me as they do on the Noldor, and they would not forgive me so willingly for spilling blood. Make no mistake steward, for readily will I risk my exile from valinor if you do not deliver her to me. Blood or no I shall have her returned."

"Child you say, daughter you say!" He whispered and looked to the healer who stood still next to the elven King. "You are not Aranel O Eryn Galen are you young healer." He said lifting his chin in an understanding.

She held a tight smile and crinkled her nose, and shook her head to the chagrin of the ancient Lord.

Then suddenly from behind Elrond and elf slipped through the crowd of Noldor that had begun to gather on the platform. He was weary and hunched and dressed still in his traveling clothes, with his cloak drawn about him in a shroud, and whispers of surprise spread at his arrival, and the realization of Unedes marriage whipped through the clan.

"She has twisted your mind Your Majesty. Can you not see the treachery that is plain before you?" Daeron hissed as he made is way down the steps. "She will steal from her family, usurp your throne, trick your son, murder mine."

Thranduil looked down at the dark elf that gazed up at him. Daeron stopped before the Kings horse and took a knee. "You must listen to my words." He whispered. "She is a traitor, she will bring ruin to Eryn Galen and Imladris alike. I beg you listen to me, heed my words."

The King watched him for a long moment, and the horseman bowed his head lower and trembled before the woodland ruler. "Listen you say…." He growled and dismounted his horse. "Listen to a traitor?" He put his hand on the golden hilt that rest on his hip and scowled at the elf before him.

"Surely King Thranduil." Elronds voice rang down from the stairs. "Surely you would listen to one who comes to me at the risk of his own doom. Let Lord Daeron plead his case, then perhaps, you will understand the lies that Itarilde has lay before you. Do not let her patience for a crown fool you. The blood of our house is to strong, she will bring ruin to any she leads, just as her forefathers did."

"Do not let Daeron speak." Elledan cried out running out onto the platform and raising a pointed hand toward the peredhel. "For his name should be Celeblambe for he has the tongue of a snake."

"I speak only my truth Majesty." Daeron pled desperately looking up at the King. He crawled forward and took the him of his cape in his hands and kissed it with dry lips. "I only desire peace for you Majesty, I only wish for you to see, see as I do. For am I not your councilor, was this not the job you appointed to me?"

"A position I no longer require." The King sneered at the evil that rested before him. "Nay, nay you are wrought with grief and anger and there is a hatred in your soul neither words nor ears can sooth."

"Let him speak!" Elrond cried out. "Let his words be heard and known- you must hear his plea and tale for yourself, you know not the danger that lies within your house!"

But a fire awoke in the Kings eyes, and he came forth from this horse and met lord Elrond on the stair and called loud enough for all to hear. "My people have called for the aide of the Noldor for two thousand years! Yet our requests have fallen on deaf ears, and our news has gone unheard and unheaded at your councils. I shall hear nothing from this traitors tongue!"

Daeron shrunk back, and stood on the edge of the platform watching the elves before him bicker, and a pale light came to his face and he felt his limbs grow cold and his heart hollow. How could they not see it, how could they not feel the evil in her. And his breaths grew desperate. But the lords seemed only to focus on each other and to have forgotten about the news and warnings he brought.

"Danger? In your halls, in your house? You have nothing to fear from a necromancer, no shadow no darkness- I am the one who has suffered. Suffered at your own greed- Suffered for you and King Amroth and my own kin deigned to steal the Elessar from my house, and from my people!"

"You accuse me of theft and conspiracy?" The King retorted. "You think that I conspired with my cousin? And for what end?"

"Because you were jealous." Elrond spat. "It consumes you- you were jealous that the Noldor were chosen to bear the rings of power for the elves, and that the Elessar given to Galadriel. You were not wise enough to see that your people deserve punishment for the deaths Orophir caused in Dagorlad. So you conspired, and you corrupt my niece so she would bring you the jewel."

"Then by your own words it is not she you should fear as evil, but I."

"There is more than one truth! Even the wise know this." Elrond shouted.

"I stole it, I stole the stone!" A voice cried out, and in a shuffle of movement Lord Elrond found Unede at his side. Her braids amiss, and her clothes wrinkled, she gripped her sword and pack tightly to her chest, and heaved her breaths. "Be silent in your fights and toil! For I looked into the Mirror, and I saw that a Shadow would fall onto my home, and I knew that it was unprotected, and I grew jealous that my people were not given one of the rings of power. I stole that stone from Grandmother. The Sindar Kings are not to blame, look to your own house for the descension that you seek, for it was I."

Elrond shook his head again, his hair falling in shadows about his face, and he knew this was not a fight that he would win. And with defeat he pushed her forward, his palm firmly on her back, and she took a stumbling step down the stairs, and caught herself before she fell. Then she turned and looked up at him, and Lord Elrond saw the spirit of fire in her and all the years of shadow she had faced in the wrinkles on her skin, and though she stood below him she seemed to grow taller and he felt her shadow fall onto him and she spoke.

"You should gather the White Council." She hissed. "If you will not listen to me, then listen to them. Call the White Council, Gandalf will show you that I speak only the truth. He will tell you what I saw."

Elrond shook his head. "I tried to keep you safe child." He looked down his nose and pressed his lips together. "I am your steward, and I tried to keep you safe. Safe in Lothlorien, hidden and protected by a ring of power. But how can I look upon your face when you remind me so much of those who sacked Beleriand? You have that same fire, and you will burn the Noldor to the ground if I let you."

"I was a child." She breathed. "A child that you stole away from her home."

"Yes, a child, and we tried to protect you, tried meld you into a High Queen, but you are too stubborn, to proud, to brash. We tried to teach you, and to calm the fire in your soul, but your fea is ill suited for the task. Alas, we all know that havoc a fea of fire will wreak on our people. It is my duty, Galadriels duty to protect the Noldor from that."

"You know me not Uncle. You know neither my fea, nor my purpose. The dark lord was in Eryn Galen, he will come back, he is not yet defeated. You must call a white council, you must listen to me! I am your superior."

"You were banished!" He hissed and a flame lit his dark eyes, and she that same revenge and despair in his soul as was in hers. "Banished for bringing harm to your people."

"Banished because you were to weak to look upon me Uncle, banished because I wanted peace and safety for all of my people, not just the Noldor. You should have given me the Elessar, but instead countless lives were lost in my Kingdom, when we could have been hale and whole. I have no love for jewels or bright things lest they serve me. And alas that stone serves no one in your hands." She shook her head and let him feel the sadness in her fea. "I will return to Greenwood and I will remain hidden there. Hidden from Sauron until the elves need a High Queen in Middle Earth."

She turned to leave but felt a dark flame fill her, and she let all the hurt her Uncle had caused wash over her and flow through her being. Here was an elf whose actions had harmed Eryn Galen, who had allowed lives to be lost all for jewels and power, under the guise of protecting the wandering Noldor. He was responsible for the losses and the hardship Eryn Galen had faced, and now he would keep her and deal her people another.

She turned to him and shook her head. Then spoke her final words to him for that age.

"One day Uncle, an age from now we will sail to Valinor. And King Finarfin will meet his Great-Grand Daughter, a Princess of Eryn Galen, a ruler in her own right, a uniter of eldar, of Noldor and Vanyar and Silvan Blood. A healer of old wounds between the Noldor and the Teleri. A great warrior who stood alone against the Dark Lord in his high tower when no others in our family would, all to protect an elven Kingdom that other Noldor shunned. And then he will see you, a half elf, not of his house, who hid in a valley with a magic ring, whilst his kin were slain in the woods. An elf who call's himself wise, and yet who's mind is twisted by the words of one who hates me because his son fell to protect me. So Then Uncle, then we shall see who shall rule the Noldor when Finarfin is weary of the task, for you and your kin were disinherited, and will forever be so. Let us pray that I have more mercy in those years, than I do now." She bowed to him, and walked down the stairs, and mounted her horse.

"Perhaps." She said looking up to the elves on the platform. "Perhaps I am some of what he says, for I do desire to lead, and to bring together the elves of Middle Earth, and to heal the wounds that my Kin have caused. But do not say that I am disloyal to my kin, nor that I love war, nor that I wish for revenge and blood and toil. I should hope we all find quiet, and unity. I should hope despite our rifts that we grow stronger together. I urge this of you Uncle, one final time. Call a meeting of the White Council." Then she looked to Daeron who coward before her and shook her head. "And you I banish from all elven lands. Go now, across the seas, or to dark caves, I care not, but let me not find you in my house or that of my Kin again."

But Elrond watched silently from atop the stairs, and searched his own mind for a reason things had come to such tensions between the elves. How could he distrust a whole Kingdom, how could he still hate his own Kin for the mistake of his youth. 'How indeed.' He muttered as he looked back on the age that had been so quiet for him in Rivendel. Unede was right, his own family was only a twisted history of death, and deceit, and a hunger for revenge. Even Galadriel was not without sin, nor his own family. And why shouldn't Unede desire to be High Queen when his own family was disinherited, why shouldn't she desire to be with her family in Eryn Galen. Perhaps instead of anger he should feel the same pride Celebrian does when she hears tell of her niece's deeds in the east.

Suddenly Lord Elrond's breath caught in his throat, and a fear filled his heart when his eyes fell onto the elf cowering at the Kings feet and he wondered; who was he really, what motivations did he have to come to his house, why would a silvan elf risk so much for petty revenge? The loss of a son was a great blow, but would it drive an ellon to treason and hate? The wise Lord hesitated, did he dare reach out, did he dare to touch the mind of the silvan elf? Elrond felt for his fea, and the Lords breath caught in his throat and suddenly the tendrils of the Deceivers dark whispers slithered around the edge of his thoughts. Had an evil penetrated into the hidden valley? Surely his niece was wrong, wrong about the Dark Lord, wrong about what lay in Dol Guldur. It was a necromancer in that old tower, as the White Wizard had said. What reason would Saruman have to lie?

Then he turned to his son, and in a whisper with a glaze over his eyes, muttered. "Call the White Council, call them as your Queen says."


	41. A Sisters Kindness

2063: After the battle of Dol Goldur, the evening of dinner at Uncle Olwes and Aunt Indis.

Legolas was sure he would have found her down here in the kitchens. He had left behind a months worth of reports on his desk, and many of the days tasks remained undone for he had not been able to focus in weeks. Instead he had spent sleepless nights pacing the halls, and sneaking gossip from healers, and begging the wizard to tell him of Unede's condition. But save for a streak of blood leading from his fathers study and the worried look of the guards he knew little more than that she lived, and that she would come to stay in the palace as one of his father's Councilor. So, he had chosen a room, and tried to bide his time making arrangements for her comfort. She would not see him, nor anyone, and for many days she had refused food. He felt her soul sad and distant and worried that she would fade, and his heart became cold. The darkness of Sauron had burdened her, and all the whispers in the kingdom said they would find her dead and faded before the fall was ended.

He turned the corner and made his way down the stairs and prayed that in the warm musty bakery he would find her with her hands floured and her wiry hair bound up kneading a dough, or sipping tea and waiting for her work to rise. Instead all he found was an empty room. The kneading stones were clean, and the fire was in embers, and the wicker proofing baskets sat empty. Stale tarts lined racks, and the tea kettles were cold, and he slumped into a seat and lay his head in his hands.

It was over. He had allowed himself this foolish dream for an entire age, even though he knew that this was how it would end. All the evenings they had pretended to love and court in a tent had been only that- pretend. A dream that he would crown her in flowers, and dance in the gardens, and wake in the night to stoke the fire so she would wake up warm. They would never stroll the market hand in hand, or do more than sneak tarts and train young soldiers. What a fool he was to think he saw more in her eyes with all her secret loaves of bread, and drunken jigs at feats, and begging him to pair with her for a quadrille. Now she lay on her death bed and turned him away at the door.

Perhaps, he thought, she had never loved him. All the years he had waited for her, let her chase demons in the woods, watched her blood thirsty, and razing battalions of orcs. She was fear, and blood, and sweat, and doom and he had loved her through it all. Perhaps, he thought, she had only ever wanted revenge and death. She did not love him, or his people, she loved duty and war. Yes, he thought, her silvan blood was weak, she was a Noldo, cursed and bent on revenge, willing to loose everything for a chance at slaying the dark lord.

The Prince felt his heart harden, and suddenly understood what it was to be a King. For all the love he had for the captain slipped from him, and his fea became cold with anger instead of grief. He needed no mate, no heir, no great love to warm the hearts of his people. They needed protection, and food and drink, and a fire at night. And his thoughts grew darker in the lonely room, and words of forsaking their love and his oath sat sticky on his tongue, until at last he heard the quiet whispers of the bakers, and felt them peek at him through the doorway.

"Your highness." Anaire whispered.

"What is it." He grimaced.

"Have a tart, or a spot of tea." Amarie trotted in behind her and sat a tray before him, and offered a smile to bright for dark times. "Be not shy, we shant have you sulking about any longer."

"He's in grief Amarie be gentle."

"Gentleness is not what he needs right now." Amarie pushed a tea cup at the Prince, and set a crusty tart before him. "He needs truth."

"I have truth." He muttered and pushed away the cup. "She lives and she does not see me. I was but a toy for her for all of this age."

The sister's looked at each other, and touched the Princes clenched hands, and he felt his anger fade a little.

"That is not what we heard." Amarie took a seat beside the Prince and pushed the tea cup back towards him. "We heard her heart is sad, and that she wakes in fits of evil dreams. We heard now that she heals, the King has placed burdens on her that she is afraid to carry. We heard that she prepared for an age to face the darkness, and now she has no idea how to face the person she was meant to be after words."

"Who is she meant to be then?" Legolas muttered and finally took the drink that was before him.

"Well she thought she was meant to be dead." Anaire said flatly.

"She's meant to be our Princess, and Queen of the Noldor one day. But she never prepared to meet that fate. And she is quite unsure how to council a King and love a Prince, and not deal insults to the other elven kingdoms all the while."

"She does not want the burden." Legolas whispered bitterly. "She never has."

"So perhaps." Amarie began carefully. "It is a lot for a heart to bear the thought of that burden, after facing such an evil. Which is why Miriel has been taking her from the halls and forcing her to paint. The color is good for her spirit, and the tree's talk her out of dark thoughts."

Legolas ate the food before him in silence and pondered the words of the sisters as he let the crumbs fall between bites. She loved his Kingdom he knew, despite is doubts, the trees sang and whispered to her and shook with joy as she walked with them. And in his heart he knew that for all her stubbornness and single minded goals that she loved him, and instead of cursing her, he cursed his crown. His heart warmed again at all the nights they had shared a tent, and pretend that they were destined for an ending that was happy. He remembered promising to meet her in the halls of mandos when he had faded, and to find her again in Valinor. He remembered finding her in his bed, and how she would sleep each night clutching his mothers necklace, and tucking it gently beneath her clothes each morning.

"I have been selfish." He said at last.

"Yes you have." Anaire was ever the voice of reason. "And so we have taken it into our own hands to make it right." She nodded at her sister, and from the folds of her dress Amarie pulled a jar of hazy red honey and placed it before him on the table.

"Honey?" He asked confused.

"Celebrant honey. Curufin led an envoy south to trade for it since the roads are finally safe."

Legolas lifted the jar and peered at the hazy red liquid and felt his breath still. He had heard tell of the honey for a millenia, and now he finally had a bit in his hands. He wondered if it was enough.

"It was expensive." Anaire said tentatively.

"It is worth any price." The Prince said quickly.

"The red stallion?" Amarie breathed. Legolas raised an eyebrow.

"How did you get him from the stables?"

"Do you really want us to answer that question, or can this simply be a grand and kingly gesture?" Anaire said quickly.

But the Prince did not break her gaze, nor lower his eyebrows.

"Ingwe took his Majesties seal when he was guarding the King's study, and put it on a trade order. He gave the order to a messenger who had Daeron bring the stallion to the emissary, and Curufin led them all south for the trade." Anaire said simply.

"We also got lovely silks, and a heady wine." Amarie added quickly.

"How am I supposed to feel about all this?" Legolas muttered and placed his head into his hands. "That was my favorite horse you know."

"We know." Anaire dismissed with a wave of her hand.

"Happy, you're supposed to feel happy." Amarie suggested. "Indis is cooking tonight, and we gave Unede all her favorite berries, and you can go to the dinner and give her the honey."

"I cannot show up uninvited to dinner."

"Hardly uninvited when you have been a hundred times, your practically expected." Anaire pressed. "Go, go and see her. It will be well."

Legolas thought for a long moment, before he nodded his head, and decided in a breath that perhaps these ladies were right, and that he was a fool. He stood quietly and gathered himself and smiled at the ladies, the bid them good day, and set off for the home of Olwe and Indis, praying that they would have him for dinner.


	42. A Conversation With A King

New Chapter to add:

This is the same day of the dinner from chapter 1

The King had heard tell from the healers that she had left the ward. That her cousin and friends had dragged her from the bed, and set her under the trees, with a brush in her hand and a blank canvas before her. And he had heard whispers from those same tree's that her heard was heavy and her fea quiet and stricken with grief. It was those same tree's that prodded him from the palace that day, and down into the gardens where she sat on a bench. The same bench, he recalled, that she had pleaded her service on.

He took a quiet seat by her and listened to the trees again, they whispered kind words and tickled her neck with their branches. She scowled and tried to hide the smile on the edge of her lips. Then he saw it, for the first time in nearly a century. She ran her fingers over the smooth amber and when the sun caught it the light lit her up with fractures of a golden glow.

Finally, the King, impatient to begin their conversation, cleared his throat.

"I never would have…you know, if I had known, I never would have accepted it." She offered him the jewel. "Did you…did you know? That he gave it to me?"

"I heard whisperings of whose neck it graced after it disappeared from the treasury. But I had no certainty."

She nodded and turned the jewel over in her hand, and seemed to disappear again into a meditative thought. But, after a time Thranduil saw clarity come to her eyes and she looked to him and shook away the falls of golden hair from about her face.

"You know, I am not afraid of it." She said pursing her lips into a thin line.

"The title?" he said.

"His title." The King knew she meant to Prince, her own titles were another story entirely.

"But you are worried, for there is weight and duty bound to his crown?"

"Perhaps I do not have the strength." She muttered.

"Perhaps, your bitterness leads you to think I would overburden you."

"Aye, bitterness." The King held back a chuckle and instead took her hand gently into his.

"I remember how I have already bent under the burden of a crown, and I hesitate to carry another. I am angry at myself, I am weak."

"You were young, you are not the same elleth you were the day you came here. Galadriel only deigned to protect you, only wished to meld you into the leader she thought her people needed." The King whispered.

"Yes, and I eschewed their protection. They just wanted to keep me hidden, until I was melded into the pawn she desired me to be. I hate it, I hate feeling so powerless." She shook her head. "When I was younger I thought I left the Noldor under the protection of the Vice-Reagent, as Gil-Galad instructed. That I had done my duty. But now that I am older I see that I was wrong, and I wonder if they would even have me as their Queen after all the mistakes I made. For even Gondor chooses a steward over their rightful heir, why would the Noldor be any different? Now Elrond wants my throne, and I let him sit next to it without protest. I've been running, running away from all of this duty out of spite, hoping it was all a dream that I would wake up from. Pretending I did not feel the guilt that I carried all these years. That is what I feel, guilty. As though there is a canyon so deep between my people and I that I cannot even hear the echo of their call across it. As though the rifts and strife is all my fault."

She was quiet again, quiet until the King spoke gentle words to her, old words that she had heard before. "Child, this silvan blood is equal to you as the blood of Finwe. You did nothing wrong, you fought for your people, and you made sure the others were protected, even when I deigned to desire division. You play only a small part in that canyon, for our forefathers were the river that eroded its boundaries. I am the King that did not offer to build a bridge and cross such a gap. Even when you tried to offer the first ropes."

"You know about the letter I sent Galadriel then, after she took Lothlorien?" she asked, remembering the treaty she had begged for.

"I know my fastest bird was used before my messenger was sent." She blushed at his words.

"Nothing escapes you your Majesty…. those who steal the daughters of the Noldor and wed them without gift or leave, do not gain kinship with their kin." She muttered. "Lord Elrond is angry with me, but he would not steal the throne, he would not risk drawing Sauron's eye."

"And you?" He asked gently, raising an eyebrow.

"I already fear my presence drew him do Dol Guldur."

"No, there were evil whisperings there even before your arrival." She nodded at his words.

"Regardless, the title holds power, and he would come for me." Unede said firmly.

"You have not been sulking, have you?" The King let out a chuckle.

"No, I have been scheming." She sneered. "This is only the beginning, a great war is brewing, I know it in my bones. There will come a time when my title is needed, when his eye needs to be drawn, when his destruction will require a distraction. When Galadriel, and the Wandering Companies will have to answer my call, and our southern kin will have to aide their rightful King. That letter made it known that her leadership of The Golden Wood is conditional."

"And in the meantime?" He asked raising an eye brow.

"I don't know…I feel as though I have been in a fever dream for a thousand years. Like the whole world was rippled with the heat of my great quest for vengeance, and the air was so thick with the dust of my own desires that it has kept us apart, and I have been living away. Away in my own palace of revenge and death and doom, when there was love all around me…All these years and I did not hear him when he called to me, because I did not want to…and because guilt kept me from him." She shook her head and wiped away a hot tear, and Thranduil knew she was not speaking of Sauron or Elrond, but of his son. Of Legolas.

"All I have done is bake bread and danced in a plume of pretend. And now, now all the breath has been taken from me, and I find myself lonely, and lost. The dust has settled and I am alone. How can I get to him, when I have been missing for so long? There is a valley in between us and I can hear only whisper's of the waters that should fill it."

The King took her hand gently and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Oh my child." he whispered. "There is nothing I can say to still you." Then he smiled and his eyes filled with a gentle light, and she was reminded of the spring sun and the warmth of the rays on her skin. "Your fire, my child, did not burn you out, this dust is not your ashes. No, you are neither Aegnor, nor Feanor. You, fire is not terrible, but enlivening. From the ashes of a forest fire the tree's grow and become mightier. Our forest needed your flames, we needed your fire, you nurture us."

"Would the silvan folk….Would they even consider…" She paused but the King smiled at her and gave a gentle nod.

"They would be glad to have you as their Princess child."

She gave a shy smile and a soft nod and then whispered. "I fear I will be late for dinner." She curtsied low, and the wind swept her off down the path, and this time the trees laughed a little lighter.


	43. A Happy Ending, Perhaps

May 10th TA 3019

Gimli watched the she elf carefully for a time. He stood sternly with his arms crossed while the city bustled around him. Oh, it was another elf he was sure, though her cloak was tight about her. She had glided through the gates as an eagle on the wind atop a horse bare of banners and tack. Even now she stood taller than most in the city, and her strange stature was met with many side glances and whispers by its peoples. She turned to her horse and spoke into the ear of the animal, it seemed to pulse in excitement and it threw its wild red head in the air at her words.

The creature turned from her and trotted towards the gate flagging its tale high and letting out a high whinny before taking out to the fields joyously. Then the elf looked around and drew back her hood and breathed in the free air of the city and watched the high white towers glitter in the sun. 'Oh she is far to joyous to be in such a ruined city.' Gimli thought shifting on his feet. But he let his eyes fall onto her as she turned and walked away, and took the road that led higher towards the Kings tower.

"That gold." He whispered taking a step forward to follow her and weaving through the crowd. "I have seen it before, though then it was strung with silver, perhaps the pure sunlight has changed it." Surely, he thought, surely this was Galadriel, come again to see him and his company, though clad in a disguise of green and brown. His feet hurried forward after her and when she had reached the second level of the city she suddenly stopped. Gimli stopped briskly and caught his breath and stroked his beard in a huff. Then she turned and gazed at him, and a smile spread across her face and she bowed low before him.

The dwarfs breath caught and he did not dare speak first, though now he saw that this was not Galadriel at all but a different noble lady.

"_You are Gimli a dwarf of Erebor, one of the fellowship_." She whispered in his own tongue, and took a step towards him. Gimli grumbled and his nerves overcame him, and suddenly distrust came to his heart and the watched the elf carefully, and lay a hand on his axe. "_I knew your ancestors, you look very much like Thorin, though more like your father Gloin in the eyes_."

The dwarf scowled and crossed his arms again and took a step towards the she elf. "_If you knew them as you say than I have a quarrel with you Green Lady. For they have no elf friends_."

Unede smiled at him, and laughed in the summer sunlight and offered the dwarf her arm. "_We have no quarrel you and I, and I have many secrets to share if you are willing to hear them, and keep them yourself. I am a dwarf friend if you will have me, for I have heard that you are called elf friend in the south." _

Gimli watched her with caution, but at last did her bidding and took her arm. "I go to the high tower to seek out Strider." She said in the common tongue taking a step forward. "Will you take me there?"

"I shall, though what business does an elf like yourself have with the King of Gondor? And how is it that you have come to speak my tongue?" He looked up at her as they walked, ignoring the eyes that drew after them, and the children that skittered behind them in giggles, hiding behind carts in mock secret. "I can see there is more to you than meets the eye, for at first I thought by your hair that you were the Lady of Lothlorien, but by your clothes you seem more northern to me, the silvan type as my companion is."

"You are as curious as a cat my dear dwarf." Silver laughter fell from her lips. "Aye, Gimli, I am silvan, from the Green Wood, though your keen eyes are right, we share some blood, the Lady and I." She smiled at him again and slowed her steps enjoying the banter with the dwarf. He humphed and nodded, but did not cease his questioning.

"Ah, a Green Lady so I thought." He said plainly beginning to enjoy their play of words. "It does not explain your mastery of my tongue though. Tell me how one such as yourself came by such a language."

"I passed through Khazad-dûm as a child." She smiled "But it was my dealings in Erebor that kept by tongue so fluent."

Gimli looked at her scrutiny, but could find no evil in her eyes, or behind her smile. He wondered if she was alike in personality with Legolas, who would offer more information only after a tincture of trust and time were added to the relationship. He scrunched his brow and twisted his lips and decided after a time that it was best to change the subject, lest he scare off the fair lady.

"Is a she-elf all that Mirkwood would send for the lad?" he nudged her and gave a wink.

"Aye it is. Do you think we should have sent more? I have heard he is strong enough with a bow that we two should be able to face the perils of the plains alone." She winked back at him and the dwarf let out a loud laugh.

"That he is, strong and fearless."

"Sooth now, I road ahead of my companions, a company of elves comes south." The dwarf nodded at her words.

The he spoke "Now, fair lady, tell your name as you know mine."

She pondered for a moment, but then decided "I think the name that you would know me by is Nala-Felak, But I have not been called that for a hundred years, and none would know me by it save a few dwarves." Gimli let out another hardy laugh.

"I have heard only whisperings of your deeds River Hewer, but if it is your name as you say then I trust you more for it, though you will have to tell me the whole of the tale before we part m'lady." Gimli clapped her hard on the shoulder and they both smiled and became now more familiar with one another. "I never knew it was a lass they spoke of in the story."

"It is always hard to tell with dwarvish names." She laughed, and they came at last to the third level of the city.

The King stood on the balcony of his high tower, and watched the rider come in on a red horse. A messenger, he thought, but not of Rivendell, perhaps Mirkwood. Then he saw her, she pulled back her hood, and he knew who had come to his Kingdom, and he smiled that she thought to grace them, 'late though she was, having missed the coronation.' He thought to make sure she knew of her tardiness. He wondered if Legolas had seen her yet, though if he had the King wondered how their greeting would be.

Aragorn turned and found his friend standing quietly beside the pillar, his face pale and his arms crossed.

"Your wife has come, only just now." Aragorn lifted his arm and gestured towards the city the swirled below them.

"I know." Legolas said quietly. "I saw her come cross the fields. And for all the courage I have, it was spent in the war, and I cannot face her."

"You have faced worse, she cannot hold anger in her heart to long." Aragorn shrugged. "Gimli escorts her now to the high towers. Should we make ready an entrance for her."

"She would not find joy in such reception." Legolas replied and looked over the balcony to see that already the pair were on the third level, laughing together as they made their way up and up through the high city.

"All the better to receive her then, we shall embarrass all the anger from her heart, and all that will be left is joy of your safe return." Aragorn said. The King sought out his Paige and gave orders to have the trumpets ready, and an announcement prepared, and to send word to the kitchens that they would feast tonight among friends and would have need mead and music. Then the King turned back to his friend and found a grief unexpected on his face. "What is it my friend?" he asked and lay a hand on the elfs shoulder.

"When Unede brought the watchful peace she was wounded both in fea and form. For many weeks she healed and was silent." The Prince spoke softly and was quiet again as they watched the pair walk through the city streets. "I did not understand it then, and I was angry, angry that she did not turn to me in her pain, and grief. For a time I thought she did not love me."

"But surely that is not so, for it is plain her heart is yours." Aragorn said encouragingly.

"Aye, it is so, and mine for hers. And I envy the speed with which the mortal heart over comes darkness. For now, I understand the pain she bore and her desire for solitude and silence in her grief. I love her more for it, but I am also ashamed of the anger I felt." The elf bowed his head.

"My friend, you are a hero, a brave elf, one of the fellowship. There is naught to be ashamed of." The King said.

"I am ashamed none the less, that I did not understand her, and that in my grief I found anger. I was foolish. Now I have seen Sauron's evil, and faced it, and finished this quest that I thought would end in death, and I see now the burden she bore. And alas, it was more graceful than I have carried it, for in these weeks my heart has needed quiet and solitude to heal. Yet behold, she carried this weight for a millennia, and took me as her mate half a season after her duty was done. I am not as strong as she."

Aragorn laughed at his words. "All that elleth do will be more graceful than we can deign to perform."

"Indeed, it is so." Legolas laughed a little. "But I hope she does not bear her anger as long as I did."

"In this too, I am sure she will be more gracious than you." And they laughed together at his words, and turned to leave the balcony of the high tower.

"It's a she elf Merry." Pippin whispered. The pair had watched the guard prepare at the gates of the Kings Tower. They held bright swords and trumpets in their hands, and velvet banners of Gondor that shone silver and white as they whipped in the wind.

"Aye." Merry said as they stood by the door. "What has Strider commanded of you?"

"Only to call out the announcement." Pippin whispered and shook in his boots, then held up a scroll still bound with a wax seal.

"She's all covered in mud and muck, what sort of great elf could come so clad to see our mighty King Aragorn." Merry kicked the dirt in front of him and saw his friends gathering by the Kings throne all sharing laughs.

"Well Strider was all unsettled when we met him. I thought he might have killed us a year ago, and now look what we have all become." Pippin whispered and straightened when he saw that the elf and dwarf and come at last across the steps and the trumpets lifted and the guards gleaming swords were drawn in her honor. He gulped as she walked towards the entrance, the brass of the trumpets crying out, and he broke the wax of the scroll with trembling hands. At last she had come before him, and she beheld the hobbit with a gentle smile and encouraging eyes, and he could hardly find his words when he unrolled the scroll.

"Uh hum." He cleared his voice and looked to Gimli for assurance. "If it pleases his Majesty King Aragorn, Son of Arathorn of the house of Telcontar, 35th King of Gondor, 26th King of Arnor, first of his name. Then may I present." He gulped again, and saw the elleth before him shook her head as her cheeks became flush. Gimli stood tall and proud by her side and seemed to grow a little taller. "Her Majesty Itarilde, High Queen of the Noldor, Daughter of Gelmir, and Laurebrian of the house of Finarfin,- Why Finarfin but that's-"

"Keep going lad." Gimi said darting his eyes at Pippin and smiling up at the lady on his arm.

"Uh hum, were was I forgive me gent's eh, my lady."

"Your Majesty." Gimli corrected, but Unede shushed him.

"Let the Hobbit speak Gimli." She said.

"Yes, I see here, Captain of Eryn Galen, Councilor to King Thranduil, known as Arinyaelen, The Morning Star who cast out the deceiver, and in Erebor known as Nala-Felak the River Hewer. Here May I present the Princess Unede of Eryn Las Galen."

The hobbit shuddered and beheld the elf before him, who seemed neither a Queen nor shield maiden, but a road weary traveler, and his mouth fell open and his eyes grew wide, and he could not seem to steady himself in front of the lady. She gave him a wink, and tousled his hair and Gimli lead her forward to greet the fellowship that awaited her. She met them all warmly, and gave Aragorn and Mirthrandir gentle kiss on the cheek, as if she knew them as old friends and familiars. Then bowed deeply to the hobbits and bent her knee to the ring bearers. But the dwarf noticed that Legolas watched the ground, and a heavy despair sat on his shoulders.

"Might I say." Frodo said quietly as she stood before him. "That I was told of your deeds in the north, Aragorn said you drew Sauron's eye and kept his northern allies from attacking Gondor. Kept him….kept him away from Sam and I."

"It was not without help Young Master Frodo." She smiled and looked to Gimli "For the Dwarves of Erebor were instrumental in keeping the easterlings at bay. All I have done was my duty."

Gandalf shook his head and smiled. "Aye, perhaps this is so but there are no titles that could draw his might and fury more than A King of Gondor and A High Queen of the Noldor. Do not be so humble in your deeds my lady."

"How can I be anything but humble when I am before the ringbearers? No, young masters, my people are in your debt." And she bowed again, and kissed their hands.

When at last she came before Legolas, she did not meet him with hello, but stood silently across from him and waited for him to speak. And all the eyes of the room were upon them, and a heaviness seemed to have settled between the fellowship. But then at last the ellon spoke, still unable to lift his head, and it seemed all at once that the group let out their bated breaths.

"I am so sorry, I should have sent word." He whispered in the common tongue. But she lay a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him gently.

"You would not be so foolish as to risk a quest of such great importance just for a letter." She said gently to him.

"No, but it has burdened my heart that for so long no word has come to you." He said even quieter, and the dwarf shifted around him.

"Well Her Majesty, I am sure, is glad you are well, and that quest is done, and now there is glory for all realm. You have brought glory to her kingdom. I say we feast and celebrate." Gimli said loudly, and his words were met with enthusiastic cheers from the hobbits, and a quiet snicker from the wizard and the King.

"It will be so Gimli." Aragorn said, and took Unede's hand. "We will feast together tonight, but I am sure you wish to bathe and don fresh clothes. Please, let one of the maidens of my house help you find rest and comfort before we dine and dance."

"I thank you Strider, you have never lacked hospitality." She smiled again and gave a little bow, and took the hand of the maiden that had come before her and left the company.

Unede ran her fingers over the tree before her its white bark cracked and rippled beneath her fingers, and her heart heaved, for she found no life in its bows and only dried wood. It had carried grief in it and in its mourning its old soul had slipped away and out into the wind and no flowers had graced its bows in many years. It had been a lovely tree, so long ago, and it was a shame that none who lived now in Gondor had seen it in its bloom.

But Unede tried not to let it trouble her soul, for on the wind she felt another whisper, and she knew that Gandalf heard its little song high in Mindolluin. The sapling only waited to be found. It was there on the peak of the citadel that the King found her as she said her last farewell to the third white tree.

"Hail the Queen of the Noldor." He laughed and embraced her tightly.

"Hail the King of Gondor." As she ruffled his hair "Oh cousin, look at you! I can hardly call you little any longer. Alas, is that a gray hair atop your head, has age finally set its will about you!"

Aragorn crinkled his nose and threw back his head in a laugh. "Aye, and as luck would have it there, I see it, the faintest of wrinkles graces your forehead, what shall the younger elves say!"

They smiled at these pleasantries, for it had been many years since they could jest and joust and bat at words without a shadow hanging over their heads and hearts.

"I thank you though, for what you did Unede, I know that title is not a sacrifice you wished to take, I know you do not desire to bear this crown." 

But she shrugged at his words. "The time had always been coming, and now it has come, and passed, and the good that was needed from its bearing has been done, and the armies defeated in the north and his eyes drawn. Let your heart be light and let no trouble come about you, old family feuds be damned, I'll not have ancient grievances come between us at such a glorious time as this."

"Aye it is a glorious time, and I should wish to heal any grievances my father has against you, especially if you are to come to Ithilien!" He smiled mischievously.

"Ithilien you say!" her surprise went unhidden on her face.

"Aye, as Legolas would have it, and as I would have it. He means to bring elves there, and to help me rebuild my gardens and my city."

She crinkled her nose and looked out over the land. "And you would have the dwarves too, I suspect, for all of the stone work. Need you for me to slay you a dragon for all the riches we are to gather in this city?"

"Aye if luck be on my side the Gimli shall bring the dwarves, but I think the last of the dragons is gone."

Unede tipped her head "It is a fair land."

"And it could be made fairer cousin." Aragorn set her hand on her shoulders and let out a sigh. "The land would sing if the elves would only return to it."

"It whispers to my ear even now. Though I cannot see what it could be come, for it has been so ravaged and razed over centuries past."

"Then look." Aragorn whispered. "Look and see, and behold what it could become under your care." And in his hand Aragorn offered Unede the same green stone she had seen two thousand years before. The emerald gem wrapped in silver eagles glittered in the afternoon sun and called for her fingers to raise it to her eyes. "Take this, it is your birth right, and lay aside whatever anger your heart still holds. Look into it and help me rebuild. You had a dream once that was Middle earth and the home for all the elves, and men and beings great and small. You whispered it and hid it in your heart. But look now cousin, for the time is ripe for us to bear that dream and make the land hale and greater than it was before. Take the elessar, as a sign of peace between men, and elves. As a sign of our families unity."

Unede touched the stone and gazed long at it. For her heart had desired it for many centuries, and she had long wished the carry it on her breast, and use it to protect and strengthen Eryn Las Galen. She lifted it to her eye, and saw there in green hues a vast city, filled with trees and flowers and flowing with a happy hale peoples. And beyond she saw the land of Ithilien, grown and green and renewed in spirit. There she smiled, and found she could not part the grin from her lips and she turned to the King and took his hands and spoke.

"It is all I have wanted. Alas, what strife I have caused over a stone. Yet Behold, my Kingdom is safe, my peoples protected, my duties done. Oh, but to see what this land will become. I will help you Aragorn, I will come to Ithilien with those elves who would follow Legolas and I. But keep this stone. You are their hope, and our Grandmother knew that your people would need to look through its eye, and see what you would make of their land. Let all the people gaze into the elessar and see, let them see what their King will build for them."

Aragorn smiled at her words and squeezed her hands, and lay a kiss on her forehead. "I would be honored to bear it, and to use it. But know Unede, you never needed magic or gems and jewels. Galadriel knew this, she saw your strength, and all that it would bring to Eryn Las Galen. There was no slight in its passing to me."

But Unede only smiled and nodded, and thought of all the beauty of the land before her, and how Green Wood the Great and Ithilien would bloom each spring, and how rivers of gold would slip through the trees each fall and her heart was made whole and happy again.

She did not look the part of a Queen the dwarf thought as she danced and drank with the hobbits. Her hair bounced with each step and a joyous smile was all about her face as they sang together of the Shire and the Green Dragon. He watched as they tipped back mug after mug of dark brew, and added logs unceremoniously to the fire they clamored around.

Then she took the hand of the King, and danced with him for many songs, interrupted only by a blushing Pippin, with a hearty pint. Gimli drank deeply of another beer, and sang another song, and stood up uneasily but found his feet and sought another drink. There at the tap he found his companion gazing quietly at the dancing Green Lady.

"Aye Legolas, it's a joyous day, drink with me." And so they did, and Legolas offered him a smile as the fire burned high and the candles low, and merriment was made.

"You don't speak enough lad, where has all your joy gone, usually I can not still your tongue for jokes and laughter." Gimli said prodding his friend and filling his mug again. He staggered back to their table and sat down heavily spilling a frothy brew on his red beard. Then he followed his friends gaze and found it still rested on the dancing elleth.

"Oh lad, I see it now, your jealous of all the dancing with the King and the Hobbits and me self." He said a slur at last coming to his voice. "I know those eyes." He said. "Your heart sick for that one aren't ye."

At these words Legolas laughed and a little joy came to him at last. "Aye my friend, alas my fea sings for her, and I cannot quell its melody."

"Well do not just let her dance with an unwed King!" Gimli said loudly and buried his tongue with beer. "You ought to tell her, or dance with her at least."

"No." Legolas said quietly. "Let her dance with Estel, for they have not many more years in the lives of elves to know each other, and it brings me much happiness to see her joyful with friends. Anyway, I do not think she would be keen to dance with me."

"Oh I see, I see." Gimli said. "You have told her then." He grumbled at Legolas in his own tongue and drank his beer.

"Well she is a great lady, even in dwarvish circles it would be hard for such a noble one take up a courtship with a lad lesser accomplished." Gimli spoke. "But I am sorry for saying it, I don't like to see my friends sad with a love unrequited. Is that why you went on this quest lad? To get some deeds after your name to impress that noble lady." Gimli let out a hearty laugh.

"No." Legolas said simply and drank again and thought back to the oath he swore long years go.

"Well if ya are to give her your heart it best be soon, for I saw her with Aragorn, in an embrace just before sunset, holding hands and what not and he tried to give her jewels- green as I have ever seen come from the earth, as if out of an ent! But let your heart be light, for she would not have them, and that may be as good a sign as any if you'll have it."

And Gimli saw a light come to Legolas's eye, and his lips parted and his head tipped for he thought for a moment that his ears had deceived him. And Gimli mistook his expression as both jealousy and hope, and made to correct his fumbling of words but before he could begin the King stumbled over and took the drink from Legolas and finished it with a grin.

"It seems your cup has emptied Legolas, I shall fill it for myself, and you can dance with Unede." Aragorn laughed and found that Gimli had refreshed it with brew, and he drank again as Legolas blushed and took a nervous step towards Unede where she danced with the Hobbits had in hand.

"Don't give him a hard time Gimli." Aragorn said nudging the dwarf and taking a heavy seat.

"I only mean to spark his courage Aragorn." Gimli grumbled.

"He has courage enough." The King said.

"Aye well, if he would dance with her, and tell her all that fea singing nonsense then perhaps there could be more to all his pining and sulking."

Aragorn chuckled and looked at the dwarf then with a curious gaze. "Aye, after all the evil they have seen they deserve a bit of joy if any of us do." Aragorn said into his mug.

"Darkness, aye, but a lass like that of light and gold, surely she has not seen peril, nothing should burden a soul like hers." Gimli said decidedly with a drunken nod.

"Do you know why they call her Arinyaelen?" Aragorn asked, and the dwarf shook his head and took another drink. "Because Sauron once resided in their woods, and she fought him and drove him out just as a bright dawn arose, golden in color and bathing the forest in light. Then her people said they needed not beauty, nor silver stars, nor white gems in their green wood, but rather strength and valor at dawn. And so they named her Morning Star."

Gimli was quiet again as he pondered the words of Strider and then said at last. "I am glad that elven kind is so resilient. And I do wish that she above all would be happy, but alas our laddie said he told her of his love, but I think it is unreturned."

At these words Aragorn let out a loud laugh and drank from his mug and clapped the dwarf hard on the shoulder, and could not find his breath for joy had overtaken him.

"My dear friend, he has told her of his love, and behold, she wed him." Aragorn laughed again loudly.

Gimli yelled, spilling the rest of his beer as he stood quickly, and looked to the pair who danced close together by the fire in an amber haze. He looked back to Aragorn and spoke louder than he meant to "She wed him! wWhat do you mean she wed him?"

"Aye Gimli." Aragorn said again with a toothy grin. "They wed a thousand years ago, and now I think, now that the ring has been destroyed, and the shadow on middle-earth has eased, that indeed their ending will be happy, and that we shall live to see it."

The End…

Thank you for reading A Golden Dawn, I hope you have enjoyed it! I have a few chapters that were 'deleted' scenes that will be coming soon, and eventually I will post an 'in order' version in its entirety, as this was an experimental entity.

Until we meet again 3 UnedeofMirkwood

P.S. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, it means the world to me, you are all incredible.


	44. DELETED CHAPTER:A Courtship Long Awaited

May of 2064 After The Shadow has been Driven from Dol Guldur

Unede stood wordlessly atop a pedestal in an open room. The breeze flowed through the windows and made the silks at her feet dance. She played with the hem nervously and bit her lip. Miriel twisted her curls and delicately pinned a few away from Unede's face, moving to look at her elder cousin from the front after each pin was placed.

"Oh, smile Unede, it is a joyous day, you look as through you are ill. Gods be good, don't drink any wine, I shan't have you tripping on ribbons as you dance." Miriel said as she adjusted another ringlet.

"Maybe wine is what she needs!" Aunt Indis shoved a cup in Unede's hand "This is why we picked the green silks love, to hide the stains of Dorwinion."

Miriel sighed heavily as Unede drank from the cup of liquid courage.

"If you get me drunk enough Miriel, then perhaps I shall go through with this damned tradition and you can dance the Maypole with all the eligible ellon's and -ohf" Miriel snugged her corset tight and gave Unede a smile as she struggled to draw in a breath.

"I should be delighted to, Eru knows I have had to wait long enough." Miriel shot. She continued the adjustments, much to Unede's chagrin.

"In Rivendel when elves are ready to mate, they don't announce it to the world, they have dinner with their families, court quietly, and be done with the deed in a year." Unede protested.

"Can you just be happy." Miriel shrieked "You are the light of our people, you are beloved by all, and you are to be Queen one day. You should be deliriously joyful today, but instead your half drunk and as sad as the King." The room fell quiet and Miriel glared at Unede. Her elder cousin was the picture of beauty, bathed in green silks and soaked in the mornings ocher light, yet her fea seemed stunted by the shadow she had fought.

"Go on." Unede said with a smirk, interested in what her cousin might reveal about the demons she kept hidden inside herself.

"Your just nervous, you hide behind your swords, and your councils, and your battles. You paint all day in a hidden glen, and never spend time in the markets or with your friends. Your blind to how loved you are by our people. We are all so happy for you, and you fear a Maypole, and courtship with Legolas, more than you do a hoard of orc's. You have been head over heels in love him since the day you met, and the whole Kingdom is tired of having to pretend we do not see it!" She raised her voice "Your always preaching about keeping our boarders safe, and trading for our peoples favorite foods, and, and, and, we want to see you happy, we want a wedding, and a great feast, and a fire so big we dance all night in the woods!" She took Unede's chin fiercely in her hands and looked at her with wide desperate eyes. "So you will dance this Maypole, and you will enjoy this courtship, and you will be happy and in love. And Mirkwood will be happy and in love, and finally there will be some light in these damned caves."

Miriel snatched the goblet from Unede's hand and drained of the heady wine. She filled the cup and shoved it into her cousins hands and pointed towards the door. "If you are not the most joyous elleth who is dancing on the end of those ribbons, then I swear I shall never speak to you again." She said curtly, and then whipped out of the dressing room and down the stairs towards the festival.

Unede smiled broadly as she left, her mouth agape and her eyes glittering with delight at her cousins unexpected outburst. She lifted her skirts and stepped off the pedestal, past the great gaping windows and out onto the balcony. Below her lay a bustling city, filled with laughter. It hummed with the sounds of drums and flutes. In the distance she saw a great pyre being built for the evening celebration, and below her the colorful ribbons on the Maypole fluttered in the wind.

Unede watched it and recalled the dances of the previous seasons. Last year she had been so busy planning a siege she had not even joined in the evening fire. Yet every Spring the eligible elves would come and dance for the whole of the realm to see, a sign that they were ready to be as fruitful as the coming harvest for their potential matches. She had always loved the way the bright ribbons twisted and intertwined into one another like the roots of a tree, or the bonds of a marriage. But whenever she thought to dance her nerves got the better of her.

This year had been different though. Since winter a rumor had rippled through the Kingdom that The Prince of Mirkwood and The Princess of the Noldor would both be dancing at the festival. Unede was sure that the people most responsible for this were standing here in the room with her or sitting on the throne and guiding the preparations. Her joy had changed to worry and her worry to anger, and now the day had come, and she could hardly find that happy elf that snuck kisses with the Prince in the hidden glen. She flushed thinking about the taste of Legolas's lips, and the feeling of his hands on her skin.

Having hidden it for so long, it hardly felt right announcing their intentions to court to the realm all at once. But it was the way things were done, and she had seen many an ellon a bundle of nerves before he took up the ribbons, and she had watched many an elleth's aunt slip her another glass of wine to calm her. Unede finished her cup and took a last look at the festival below. Then she turned and smiled at her family.

"I'm sorry. Miriel is right." She said to them "I am ready."

"Oh we had all heard you would be here!" A pair of arms and splash of dark hair were suddenly flung around Unede as she made her way into the gaggle of Ladies all preparing for the dance. Unede was stunned for a moment, until she was met with the bright green eyes of her healer. "Oh, Unede, we are so excited, and grateful and oh how my tongue has caught my words." The healer giggled and brought Unede once more into her embrace.

"Honestly, I would not be here without you." Unede said kissing the elleths cheek. "I am in your debt."

"Oh hush, say nothing of it, I do my job and I do it well-" Elenwe started.

"Oh your so full of yourself" another elleth sighed, taking Elenwe's hand and giving it a squeeze.

And suddenly Unede was surrounded by joy, her limbs tingled with it, and a smile crossed her lips. She watched the other elves hug, and laugh, and jest together, and knew that every decision she had made had given these people hope and happiness and life.

"Come on, were lining up." The healer clasped her hand and led her through the clamor to the road where the men had already gathered. Half of them looked as pale as she was this morning. Many of them had not found mates yet, and some were standing with their beloveds whispering in anxious excitement. "I will see you in the circle Unede" And Elenwe was gone as quickly as she appeared.

In the line of dark haired Ellons it was easy to find the fair Legolas. He stood with his back to her, speaking animatedly with a group of other eager boys. But as she watched they paired off one by one, and soon Legolas stood alone. She made her way towards him through the crowd, and when she finally neared him and he turned around, his eyes became as bright as the light of a thousand stars. He lifted her from the ground and spun her around and took her in to a tight embrace. She lay her hands on his chest, and they watched each other, alone for a moment in the bustle of the crowd.

"Are you as nervous as I am?" He said with a grin.

"Yes, but I think all the wine helped." she winked.

And before they knew it, they drums began and they took hands, the line skipped forward to the tune of fiddles and lutes, and the claps of a thousand, thousand elves.

Their ribbons twisted and twined together as group danced around the great pole in a stream of silks and colors. There was laughing as they switched partners and, changed directions, and leaped and skipped in a mess of happiness. Unede felt the world fall away, as her life became a whirl of rainbow above her, and she felt the weight of the shadow lift and become bound in the ribbons. For a moment she was free of her burdens, and the joy of the spring and summer filled her with its energy. Finally, when the last turn had been made, the ribbons were set about the pole in a great pattern of color, and the music lulled and the crowd clapped and cheered in a roar of voices.

The King, in his booming voice, declared that the merriment would begin, and so there under the sun of the spring afternoon the pair feasted with their friends and family. Danced together, played the spring games, and of course, slipped away for a few quiet moments alone when they could find them.

The party had continued as the dusk came onto the great glade, and Legolas took Unede's hand during a lull in conversation and pulled her away to a quiet garden. The music was faint, and the smell of the evening flowers filled the air as they walked down the stone path hand in hand.

"I understand that it is the tradition of the Noldor for our families to meet should there be a betrothal, and that they must approve of our courtship and then we are to exchange rings." Legolas said smiling at her in the twilight.

Unede nodded quietly in the dusk.

They turned the corner and found, standing among the trees, their families. The King, Uncle Olwe, Aunt Indis, her cousins Meriel and Ingwe. And joining them were Legolas's own cousins and aunts and uncles, all there whispering and giggling with excitement to one another.

"I have arranged this as is the custom." Legolas smiled, and extended his hand presenting their loved ones to her. A blush came to her face, but she could not hide her smile over the whole affair.


End file.
